


There Are Dragons in the Sky

by ava_14_rose_9



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Feels, Artist Zuko, Azula (Avatar) is A Good Sibling, Bipolar Disorder, Childhood Trauma, Dragons, Eliza and Her Monsters au, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gaang is apart of a fan club for Zuko, Gay Panic, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Zuko (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Panic Attacks, Protective Azula (Avatar), Secret Identity, Sokka writes fanfiction, Strangers to Lovers, Tags Are Hard, The Jasmine Dragon (Avatar), Trauma in general, Ursa is clueless, Zuko (Avatar) is Bad at Feelings, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, without realizing they support Zuko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:27:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 37,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28942182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ava_14_rose_9/pseuds/ava_14_rose_9
Summary: Online, Zuko Hinote is Lord_Turtleduck, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic, Love Amongst the Dragons. In the real world, his life is a mess. He’s moved to a new country with his sister to practically start a new life, he is being wrestled into therapy sessions, and he’s got a blooming crush on the one and only Sokka Ashevak. When Zuko gets closer with Sokka and discovers his secret identity as CaptainBoomerang, LAtD’s most famous fanfiction writer, his life turns into something he never imagined it could be.Or, an Eliza and Her Monsters AU featuring two clowns.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 69
Kudos: 269





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Zuko and Azula Hinote are bad at getting socialized™. Indiana is much different from Japan. Oh, and Ursa’s back, I guess.
> 
> Warnings: this chapter contains mentions and a scene of slightly graphic child abuse(aka Ozai being Ozai). Please be warned if you are sensitive to this topic.

_“If the sky could dream, it would dream of dragons.”_

\- Ilona Andrews

-

There are dragons in the sky. Zuko sees them. Zuko draws them. Zuko tells their story.

-

Zuko and Azula Hinote arrive at their uncle’s apartment late in the afternoon, when the last fleeting strokes of sunlight making way to dusk are seen on the streets and roads. Uncle Iroh greets them in a cheerful manner, having not seen his niece and nephew in person in years since he moved out of their Japan home.

“Wonderful to see you both, dear niece and nephew.” Uncle says, squashing both of his much taller family members into a bear hug. 

“Good to see you too, Uncle.” Zuko responds exhaustedly, the many hours of cramped plane flights and confusion with time zones making way to an uncomfortable feeling of jet lag. Azula tries to hide her own, but even Azula has limits. Uncle must notice the exhaustion (Zuko was never good at acting), because he ushers them up the stairs from the tea shop to the apartment. 

Uncle Iroh owned a small but comfortable tea shop called the Jasmine Dragon, which stood proudly among the many shops on the blocks surrounding the small town square. The tea shop is old-fashioned with dining in, customers still drink from expensive-looking mugs and teacups. Zuko sees the decor and is uncomfortably reminded of his childhood in Japan and the memories associated with it, mostly bad. 

Uncle shows them both into the guest bedroom, which they would share. A few years ago, Zuko and Azula would have both spit on the thought of sharing a room together. Now, they’re grateful for it. 

\--

When Zuko was thirteen, he came out as gay to his family. 

He had met a son of one of his father’s friends, a handsome and athletic young man who was two years Zuko’s senior. They got along well, bonding over martial arts and fencing, both activities Zuko had been forced into taking as a child. 

The reaction was…  _ shocking _ , to be quite frank. Azula had been nothing short of not at all caring (a silent but  _ positive _ reaction from her), but their father, Ozai… 

Zuko was punished, and the large, unmistakable burn scar that took up almost half of the side of his face was the cruel reminder that he would never again be accepted into the Hinote family, at least not by Ozai himself. 

It was all Azula needed to call Child Protective Services, who took them out of Ozai’s custody and placed them in a foster home until other family members were contacted about taking care of them. Iroh immediately volunteered, but it had taken years to get the paperwork signed and transferred. With the discovery of their since-divorced mother, Ursa, contacting Iroh that she lived only a few hours away in Indianapolis, the siblings decided to move to the United States. 

\--

**THE BEST THING YOU’LL READ TODAY**

_ Posted at 10:46 pm, on 02-19-2018 by  _ **_Apocalypse_Cow_ **

**Go here, read this. Thank me later.**

[ _ http://loveamongstthedragons.blogspot.com/ _ ](http://loveamongstthedragons.blogspot.com/)

\--

The post is open on Zuko’s laptop when he opens it the next morning after he and Azula arrive at the apartment. Zuko doesn’t read the comments, most of them say the exact same thing. 

The post is old, over two years have gone by. Zuko checks it every so often just to make sure that it’s real. His beginning, time-stamped into history. 

\--

**Love Amongst the Dragons***

_ Webcomic by  _ **_Lord_Turtleduck_ **

**Romance, Fantasy, Adventure**

* = Featured story

3 Parts

Part 1 - The Curse →

Part 2 - The Hunt →

Part 3 - The Love →

**10.8 M** views,  **8.9 M** likes,  **5.4 M** comments

\-- 

Zuko draws and writes a webcomic. Okay, impressive. Takes a lot of work and practice to even make a halfway decent webcomic. 

Said webcomic has over ten million views. A little more impressive. 

Zuko Hinote has been the anonymous creator of  _ Love Amongst the Dragons  _ for over two years. He started the comic when he was fifteen, looking for a way to cope with his recently diagnosed anxiety disorder. 

Drawing… drawing  _ helps _ . It always has. Zuko can lose his mind, his thoughts, his worries, and put everything he has, his creativity, in drawing. 

It was Azula’s idea to start a webcomic. Zuko can put himself and his hard work out there without actually putting himself out there. He went as Lord_Turtleduck, the person he wants to be. Zuko thinks of Lord_Turtleduck as the version of himself that he can’t be around others. 

\--

_ Love Amongst the Dragons _ is a story about the Dragon Emperor being cursed by the Dark Water spirit to live as a mortal human. He is forced to adopt the alias of Noren, a ‘humble’ traveling nomad, to hide his identity while being hunted down by the Dark Water spirit’s forces, who want to kill him to take over the dragons. He puts together a ragtag group of unlikely friends and goes on an adventure to defeat the evil spirit. 

His friends include: 

Eimi, the Light Water spirit.

Konno, a master thief.

Kazuko, a powerful mage.

Ezran, an honorable knight.

And Lim, his royal advisor and strategist. 

As the story progresses, the Emperor lives as a mortal and gathers his friends to fight the Dark Water spirit so he can get his throne back, while also falling in love with Noriko, a kind, handsome, and resourceful mortal man who teaches him the importance of humility and true love. 

\--

Zuko turns on his old monitor and puts up the file that he has been working on for the past few days. It’s a drawing of Eimi, the Light Water spirit who teams up with Noren and friends to fight the Dark Water spirit. She can’t lift the Emperor’s curse, but she can help him fight it. 

The drawing is half-finished, and needs to go up within two days. Zuko is behind schedule, with the large move to the US. Zuko usually posts a minimum of one page per week, an average of three. He always posts on fridays, he likes the thought of reward after making it through a long school week. Zuko finished chapter two of part three of LAtD the previous week, purposefully shortening it, so he wouldn’t need to worry about finishing it, opting for the next week’s update to be a character portrait.

Eimi is more difficult to draw. She is the Light Water spirit in human form, she requires a lot of lighter hues, lots of blues and whites, and takes longer, but she was the only character portrait Zuko had not posted. The readers were asking when her portrait would be put out, and Zuko had already made previous plans. 

The linework is already completed, but he’s barely started coloring. Zuko takes a deep breath, and puts his pen on the writing tablet. 

\--

“Her nose is too narrow.” Azula comments when she hands him a mug of tea from Uncle. 

Azula has this ability where she’s able to notice small incorrect details that Zuko always overlooks. The linework is crooked, the shadows aren’t as natural or neat as they should be, there is a hair out of place, she has an uncanny and terrifying ability to sniff it out. Zuko has developed the habit of asking her to inspect every single picture and detail before he posts it. 

Zuko hadn’t noticed the nose, but he’s glad she caught it before he started coloring it. Coloring over it would have worsened the mistake. Even though most of the readers wouldn’t have been able to spot the difference, it gives the siblings peace of mind. 

\-- 

Zuko checks the LAtD forums. The webcomic forums he uses, blogspot and tapas, both show an increase of about three hundred views, two-hundred fifty likes, and sixty comments since he checked the previous night. Normal growth rate for him. He posts on the official LAtD Instagram and Twitter that the new Eimi portrait will go up on the upcoming Friday, and the excited reaction is immediate. 

It makes him smile, having people that appreciate his work so much. At the same time, his stomach twinges with nausea. 

\--

Zuko finishes the portrait on his tablet in the hours-long car ride on the way to his mother and stepfather’s house in Indianapolis later that day. 

He’s barely able to focus, still in slight shock of the knowledge that his mother is  _ alive _ ,  _ happy _ , and with a  _ whole new family _ of her own( _ “A family that doesn’t include us.” _ Azula had seethed. Zuko will keep this in mind). At first, he was excited. On the car ride, he was nervous. 

Now, standing in front of the door to her apartment, he was terrified. She had reached out to Uncle and expressed that she wanted to see her children again(“ _ Children she knowingly left behind with a vile, cruel man.”)  _ Azula’s voice whispered to him), and they had found out that she was in a new marriage, and had a young daughter. 

For a split second, Zuko wants to turn around and  _ run the fuck out of there _ like he does inwardly in any social situation, but he stands his ground while Uncle knocks on the door. 

\-- 

_ Zuko has just finished a martial arts lesson with his tutors and Azula. He’s sitting outside, in front of the turtleduck pond in the expansive backyard of the Hinote estate.  _

_ The turtleduck pond is Zuko’s safe space. It’s small, but well-hidden in a blind spot by camouflage, which was his own doing. Zuko sits there, sometimes hours at a time, playing with the baby turtleducks, feeding them, reading to them.  _

**_Soft_ ** and  **_whiny_ ** and  **_weak_ ** , his father calls him. 

His mother disagrees. 

**_Zuko isn’t sure who he believes anymore._ **

_ Zuko yelps when he feels soft hands cover his eyes. He knows those hands, feels them daily, as they comfort him. Ursa laughs as she sits beside him and pulls him close with an arm over his shoulder.  _

\--

_ She’s older.  _ Is his first observation. 

_ ‘Dumbass, of course she’s older. It’s been nearly six years.’ _ His mind supplies, unhelpfully. His face gets almost a shy, hesitant look to it. 

_ She looks happier _ . Is his second observation. 

She looks like she’s aged so much, for only being in her late forties. But a rather nasty divorce and raising two -  _ no, three _ \- children will do that to a person. 

She looks them over, and he sees her eyes change with recognition, then happiness. 

She’s… happy to see them. 

Ursa pulls all three of them into a hug, and kisses Zuko and Azula’s foreheads. Zuko feels his sister tense up beside him. Zuko wants to melt into his mother’s hold, the familiar hold, just like he used to, but he holds himself back. 

“It’s so nice to see you all again.” Ursa tells them, and opens the door further to let them in. 

The apartment is spacious, and full of theatre knick-knacks. Zuko smiles as the memories of their mother sharing everything she knew about her love of theatre with her children when they were younger. One glance at Azula’s slightly more relaxed expression tells him that she’s feeling the same. 

A man, Zuko guesses this to be Ursa’s husband, Ikem, his stepfather, enters from another room, carrying a young preschool-aged girl on his hip. She’s adorable, and must be Kiyi, his half-sister. Zuko is grateful when nobody is shocked or stares at his scar. He figures that Uncle probably warned them ahead of time. 

They start by catching up. Ursa and Ikem tell the story of how Ursa moved to the US because of a work transfer, and met Ikem, who led a local youth acting troupe. They met and bonded through their love of theatre( _ Is anyone surprised? _ )and decided to get married a few months later. 

Zuko and Azula give them life updates from their side. Therapy with their therapist, Piandao, is going well. They’ll start school at Westfield High School the following week. Zuko tells them about his webcomic and they are incredibly impressed and proud at his work, especially when he shyly shows them a few drawings. 

The reunion abruptly takes an odd turn when Kiyi marches in front of the couch that Zuko and Azula are sitting on, and practically climbs monkey-style onto Zuko’s lap. She stares him down for a few short seconds, then puts a hand over his scar. Oddly, Zuko does not flinch. Her touch is soft and tender, almost feather-light. 

She says, “You’re hurt, aren’t you?” It’s less of a question, more of a statement. Zuko smiles sadly at her, and Kiyi, the smart girl she is, can see right through it to the actual meaning. 

“Not anymore. I’m here to protect you, Zuzu. And you too, LaLa.” 

And Zuko’s heart melts. Azula smiles a genuine smile for the first time that day. Kiyi sits in between the damaged siblings, and while holding their hands, starts to repair them. 

\--

The rest of the visit goes smoothly. Uncle, Zuko, and Azula promise to visit more often, and Ursa and Ikem make the same promise. 

Zuko couldn’t be happier. 

\--

Two days later, on Friday, Zuko posts the portrait of Eimi on social media and the webcomic sites. The picture does just as well as the previous character portraits, and the views are up by thousands. 

\-- 

Some people have called Love Amongst the Dragons a phenomenon. Critics, articles, fans. 

Zuko gets nauseated if he thinks of his work that way. 

Zuko is an artist, not a writer. Azula normally helps him come up with storylines if he needs help writing the transcript before he plans the drawings. 

The main reason his webcomic blew up is because someone saw it, and liked it, apparently liked it enough to post the blogspot link to it on _ Masterminds _ , which is an extremely popular webcomic site. That’s the reason so many of the fans found out about it. 

They  _ cared _ . 

They cared about Zuko’s work. They cared if he posted on time. They cared about Noren/the Dragon Emperor and his character development. They cared about the same-sex relationship representation between Noren and Noriko. They cared about the transgender representation through Konno. Hell, they even cared about Zuko. Or at least, they cared about his username. 

Zuko gets tons of notifications and contacts a week from publishers and editors, wanting to put LAtD into print, even about making merchandise. He always deletes them. He doesn’t want to make money from this. Money isn’t his sole reason for creating his work. 

This is Zuko’s story to tell, and he will tell it beautifully. 

\-- 

**LOVE AMONGST THE DRAGONS FORUMS**

USER PROFILE

**Lord_Turtleduck****

_ Admin _

**AGE** : oo

**LOCATION** : Light Water Lagoon

**INTERESTS** : Training and riding dragons, charting stars, exploring dangerous places. 

Followers : 8,345,228 |  Following: 0 |  Posts : 5,009 

\-- 

Zuko and Azula pull up to Westfield High School in Zuko’s car on their first Monday in the US. The knot of nerves and doubt in Zuko’s stomach has tightened like he’s holding onto them for dear life. They’ve been dreading this for the one week they’ve been in the United States, and it hasn’t gotten any easier. Before Ozai effectively ruined their lives, the Hinote siblings had only ever been to private and posh boarding schools for spoiled rich kids. After that, in the foster system for four years, they were homeschooled for their own safety. They’ve never been to an actual public school before. 

To make matters even worse, they’ve moved in the middle of the school year. February of Zuko’s senior year. Friend groups and popularity ranks have been established, classes set in stone. 

Zuko doesn’t stand a chance. Neither of the socially awkward siblings do. But Azula will fight for hers. 

They’re greeted in the main office by the secretary, whom Zuko forgets the name of within two minutes of meeting her. He doesn’t care for small talk. 

The secretary tells them to wait in the office, that someone will be by to show them around the school. 

A few anxiety-filled minutes later, a girl walks through the door. 

She’s younger than Zuko, about Azula’s age. She has long brown hair which is tied up in a side braid and two small loops(hair loopies?)of her hair are held back by beads, which frame her youthful and attractive face. She’s wearing an easy smile. 

“This is Katara. She’s a member of Student Council and she’ll be showing you around today.” The secretary shoos them out of the office and Katara turns to them. 

“Hi, nice to meet you guys. Zuko and Azula, right?” Katara asks. Her voice is sweet, almost fake, or maybe that’s just Zuko’s paranoia. 

“Yes, that’s us.” Azula answers politely. “Nice to meet you as well, Katara.”  _ Nice to know that Azula still has her ‘charming mode’.  _

“Great, school hasn’t started yet, I’ll show you around and show you to your classes.” Katara shows them the cafeteria, library, auditorium, their lockers, and their classes. Zuko likes her. She’s nice, nicer than most of the other classmates he ever had back in Japan. When Katara finds out Zuko is a senior, she tells him that she has a brother his age. Katara bonds more with Azula after they compare schedules and have most of the same classes. 

Katara is polite and kind, and has a motherly air around her. She reminds Zuko of Ursa, and the fact that he no longer thinks of that as a painful reminder is what Piandao would call ‘progress’. 

\--

**LOVE AMONGST THE DRAGONS TRANSCRIPT**

_ PART 2, CHAPTER 4: LIGHT WATER LAGOON  _

_ Last edit made by Zuko Hinote on December 12th, 2019 _

_ SUMMARY _ : Noren goes to Light Water Lagoon, home of the Light Water spirit, otherwise known as Eimi. Eimi declares that she does not know of a cure for his curse, but she will help him find it. 

**EIMI:** What have I to do with this problem?

**NOREN** : I was cursed by the Dark Water spirit, my lady. Maybe the Light Water spirit can undo it. 

**EIMI:** You think me a healer of tragedy? I know not of dark magic curses. 

**NOREN** : But surely you know of a cure? 

**EIMI:** You wish it were that simple. 

**NOREN** : What do you mean? 

**EIMI** : This cure you seek, can be found. But not without sacrifices. 

**NOREN** : My lady, I have a home, a race to lead, a kingdom to get back to. 

**EIMI** : I know perfectly well who you are, Dragon Emperor. Have you ever considered yourself to be an unfit ruler on the Dragon Throne? 

**NOREN** : I… know not what you mean, milady. 

**EIMI** : You will… in time. You understand you must go on a journey. 

**NOREN** : I understand to not expect it to be easy. 

**EIMI** : Wise decision. If I were to assist you on this journey, would you agree to do something for me? 

**NOREN** : Perhaps if I knew what it is you want.

**EIMI** : Among one of many realizations you will come to. Very well, I will help you on this journey, but know this: you will be tested when the time comes, and you may not like the decision you will choose to make. 

**NOREN** : Thank you so much, milady. 

**EIMI** : You may call me Eimi, and I will refer to you as Noren. 

\--

First period has been going on for about twenty minutes when Zuko arrives into the classroom with Katara, having already dropped off Azula at her class. It’s literature with Mr. Pakku, who just by looking at, Zuko can tell will not be a very… accommodating teacher. 

“This is Zuko, he’s new, Mr. Pakku.” Katara informs, smiling at Zuko as if to assure him. It doesn’t work, and Zuko’s hands are practically wet with sweat as she leaves the classroom. 

“Zuko Hinote? Take a seat please.” Pakku dismisses him without a second thought, which Zuko is thankful for. He doesn’t want to stumble through an introduction  _ again _ , especially not after seeing the way some of his new classmates are glancing at his scar. 

The only open seat is next to a boy with dark skin and blue eyes with a shaved ponytail hairstyle. Ponytail boy smiles at Zuko in greeting and pats the seat next to him. Zuko shuffles down the aisle and sits next to him, and thankfully, the boy does not give the scar a second glance. 

_ Fuck _ . Zuko thinks.  _ He’s really hot.  _

Zuko turns his attention to the lesson on the board, which is about the  _ Lord of the Flies _ reading assignment for the night. It’s a book Zuko has thankfully already read(and was thoroughly grossed out by)so he tunes out Pakku and instead mentally compiles a list of what he has to have accomplished for LAtD this week. He has to finish his rough sketch of the first two pages of the next chapter of Part 3, and resolves to have them ready for digital design and coloring by Wednesday. Azula has thankfully edited the transcript for the new chapter over the past weekend, so all Zuko has to do is put in the text. He resists the urge to pull out his sketchbook and start working on the pages in class, not wanting to gain a reputation as the weirdo geek on his first day of school. 

__

He’s brought back into the present when Ponytail Boy beside him taps on his shoulder. 

__

“Hey, I’m Sokka!” Ponytail Boy-- _ Sokka _ \--says cheerfully. 

__

Zuko manages a small smile back. “Hello, Zuko here. But… I guess you already knew that, sorry.” 

__

“No need to apologize, man. So anyway, it’s that time in class we have everyday where we discuss about what we read the night before, but I guess since you’re new--” 

__

“No, actually, I’ve already read the book.” Zuko blushes, not meaning to interrupt Sokka. 

__

“Wait really? Ok, so don’t give me any spoilers, but does it get even more disturbing than it is halfway through?” Sokka gives a half-grimace. 

__

“Much worse. So much worse.” Zuko snickers, and _ when has he gained these new social skills??? _ Nevermind that, they’re working!

__

Sokka’s eyes widen, then he makes a fake-horrified face and laughs. “Oh, now I’m scared.” 

__

“Good. As you should be.”  _ Seriously, why is it so easy to talk to this dude?! _ The only people Zuko ever feels this comfortable around are Uncle and Azula. 

__

“So, hey, you’re from Japan, right?” Sokka asks. 

__

“Yeah, why?” Zuko thought it was fairly obvious from his last name and appearance. 

__

“I’m trying to win a bet against my racist lacrosse rival, so please tell me that nobody can assume that just because sushi is Japanese that everyone in Japan loves it?” 

__

“No, you can’t assume that. That’s actually really stereotypical.” Zuko didn’t like sushi, and weirdly enough, nobody in the Hinote family liked raw fish. 

__

“Yeah, I know.” 

__

\--

__

Sokka is… well, Zuko’s not sure how to describe the boy. 

__

Energetic, sarcastic, curious, proud,  handsome . Just some examples of words Zuko can come up with to describe Sokka Ashevak. 

__

It’s weird, above all else. Within an hour of class time, Zuko knows that Sokka is a lacrosse player, Katara is his little sister(Zuko can see the family resemblance), he wants to be an engineer, among many other things. 

__

Sokka knows that Zuko used to live in Japan, he likes martial arts, he lives with his uncle and sister. 

__

It’s just… so easy to be around Sokka. Zuko isn’t sure why. 

__

\-- 

__

_ “One does not need the size of a dragon to have the soul of a dragon.” _

\- Robin Hobb

_  
  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko finds friendship. Or rather, friendship finds Zuko and punches/coddles him until he accepts it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none for this chapter. Enjoy!
> 
> This fic updates every Saturday.

_ “Dragons are fire made flesh.”  _

\- George R. R. Martin

\--

“Zuko, the cash register needs you!” Azula calls from the front as she dances around with the grace of a ballerina while delivering orders and cleaning tables. She looks out of sorts without her normal topknot, which she forgoes for a high ponytail. Baby wisps frame her delicate face and loose hair falls out of the tight ponytail band, but even now, she looks to be in her element. 

Zuko can’t say the same. His short and spiky hair is rumpled with the flurry of activity. He and Azula have been at work in the tea shop for hours, where Uncle had whisked them away to after they had gotten home from their first day of school. It was a nice distraction from the inevitable “how was your first day of school, kids?” talk they would receive at dinner that night. 

The busy activity in the Jasmine Dragon was a nice distraction from the worrying Zuko had done earlier that day about how to start the next chapter of LAtD, p lus the small thoughts of Sokka Ashevak. 

His thought process is interrupted when a young girl walks up to him at the cash register and says, “Is Uncle here?” 

“Huh?” Is Zuko’s intelligent response. 

“Uncle Iroh? He owns the tea shop?” The girl asks again. Zuko gets a good look at her. She has dark hair in two space buns that look kind of cute on her. She has a pair of lime green headphones around her neck. She’s wearing a yellow and green school backpack. He looked into her milky green eyes and realized the girl was blind. 

But what struck him the most wasn’t her blindness, it was her stance. 

Years of martial arts training had taught Zuko to observe the body language and stance of his opponent, should they show signs of attacking with any familiar moves. The blind girl was short and skinny, but despite being blind, seemed to know exactly where she was going. Her stance was nothing short of confident and stubborn. 

Almost... like a boulder. 

It almost reminded him of Konno. Except, Konno had their eyesight. 

“He’s in the kitchen.” Zuko says after a moment’s hesitation. The blind girl gives a short nod, then marches around the counter and walks into the back of the shop, seemingly not needing any directions. 

\-- 

The blind girl doesn’t leave that day even after Zuko and Azula’s shifts at the tea shop are over, hours later. She stays in the kitchen with Uncle even after it is announced that the tea shop is about to close. 

“Nephew, Niece. In here for a moment.” Uncle calls them from the kitchen as they clock out, about to head up the stairs to the apartment. 

He’s sitting with the blind girl, they’re both drinking tea. The girl’s backpack is beside her, and at first glance, it seems as though she is reading from a book, but due to her blindness, it’s impossible.

At second glance, Zuko recognizes the book in front of her. 

It’s a book of  _ braille writing _ , and it brings back painful memories that have been buried for years. Zuko tries to relax his quickly-beating-faster heart. 

“Toph, this is my niece and nephew, Zuko and Azula. They just moved here from our home country of Japan.” Uncle introduces them. 

“Fire Hazard Siblings. Nice to finally meet you.” The girl--Toph--lazily greets them. Zuko’s eyes widen.  _ How could she know… surely Uncle.. No he wouldn’t... _

Thankfully, Azula saves the day. “Beg your pardon, what did you just call us?” 

“The Fire Hazard Siblings. Uncle told me you guys almost burned down the kitchen trying to make tea once.” Toph supplies.

“Not our fault we can’t check the temperature of the water while the kettle lid is on.” Azula huffed in annoyance. Azula mastered almost everything she set her mind to, but try as hard as she could, she could not perfect( _ or even slightly succeed _ )in cooking skills. 

Toph snorted. “Didn’t say it was.”

“So, what is your purpose here, little gremlin?” Azula asks, and Zuko’s mouth drops open. 

Toph’s snort turns into full-blown laughter. “Man, I like you guys.” She throws out both her arms and all Zuko can see is the punch coming towards him and next thing he knows, he has Toph’s arm pinned against her back. Glancing at Azula, she seems to have been close to reacting the same way, only she holds herself better. Zuko quickly drops Toph’s arm when he realizes where he is, and that this is  **_not_ ** where he thought. 

“I--I’m so sorry--years of martial arts training kicked in… and I just--”

Toph’s shocked silence breaks when she smiles. “Wow, Sparky, you can actually take a punch, good job.” She punches towards him again, and this time he only manages a mild flinch as it lands heavily on his arm and causes a twinge of pain. 

_ A lot like Konno, indeed.  _

\--

“... She is a weird blind little gremlin, but I respect her.” Azula says about Toph that night. Her and Zuko are sitting on Zuko’s bed, Azula’s laptop in between them. They’re attending their ‘mandatory’ weekly sibling therapy session with Piandao, Zuko’s old fencing teacher.

Piandao makes it a point to get the siblings to open up each other about their-- _ Agni forbid _ \--emotions and feelings, which is something the Hinote family has never been good at. Zuko and Azula’s old(and apparently unhealthy)way of dealing with their emotions is to ignore and push them down deep inside until it becomes too much and is unleashed into, or rather,  _ onto _ , the world. Piandao’s been trying to help them grow into communicating with others like normal people. 

It’s a work in progress. 

“Good to hear that, Azula. What about you, Zuko? Have you met anyone you consider a friend yet?” Piandao asks him. 

Zuko doesn’t know the answer to that. The first person he thinks of is Sokka, but he doesn’t know if Sokka counts as a friend. They’ve had a couple literature classes together, but they don’t know each other that well. Or rather,  _ Sokka _ doesn’t know _ Zuko _ that well. Zuko hesitantly rules out Sokka. 

The next person he thinks of is Toph. He immediately rules her out. She’s cool, a great listener, violent, and has a hilariously badass attitude, but he’s met her once. 

Surprisingly, the third person he thinks of is Katara. Sokka’s sister, motherly, a good person, and really fucking scary when she wants to be. Again, he’s met her a few times, but she really bonded better with Azula. 

Agni, he really misses Mai and Ty Lee.

\-- 

**GROUP MESSAGES: LOVE AMONGST THE DRAGONS FORUMS**

4 Members

**AzulDragon** _ : Transcript for next chapter edited, ready for drawing, Zuzu.  _

**Lord_Turtleduck** _ : Thanks Azula, I owe you one.  _

**AzulDragon:** _ You owe me several ones, Zuzu. I’ll cash them in one day.  _

**Mais_knives:** _ Anything to peer review before you post the new pages tomorrow? _

**Lord_Turtleduck** _ : I’ll send you some photos, they just need some editing and then they’ll be done.  _

**AzulDragon** _ : He’s been at it for hours…  _

**Mais_knives** _ : Frustrated about the big move to the states?  _

**TyTyFlips** _ : Oh, if anyone can handle changes, it’s Zuko.  _

**Lord_Turtleduck** _ : I’m handling it just fine, promise, Ty Lee.  _

**TyTyFlips:** _ Still on for virtual movie night on Saturday?  _

**Lord_Turtleduck** _ : Wouldn’t miss it! _

**AzulDragon:** _ He can’t. I’ll drag him kicking and screaming if I have to.  _

\-- __

Mai Tanaka and Ty Lee Suzuki are Zuko and Azula Hinote’s best friends. That’s the only way to really explain their relationship. 

Or,  _ “my little sister forced two other girls to be her friends through being socially awkward, hating life, and having ‘a pretty aura’. She then forced me to play with them and we soon became best friends” _ , is the best summary for how they met. 

Mai and Ty Lee were the only friends the Hinote siblings had growing up. They were the only ones that were ‘approved’ to be friends, based solely on the fact that their parents were all friends.

Mai and Ty Lee are also the only ones, besides Piandao, outside of the family that know about Zuko’s identity as the creator. They help run the LAtD forums and peer review Zuko’s drawings before they go up. Ty Lee was the one who originally sent the link to Zuko’s blogspot webcomic to Apocalypse_Cow, the infamous digital art reviewer, who then posted it to  _ Masterminds _ . 

Zuko does have friends. Not many, and half of them are his family, but he does have friends. 

\--

Zuko remembers Piandao’s question while he’s walking to anatomy class with Sokka, who has calculus right next door. 

The short hallway is relatively empty, and Zuko is about to ask Sokka if they are friends, when he notices someone corner them. 

“What do you want, Jet?” Sokka asks in a clipped tone. Zuko recognizes the frustration and annoyance in his voice. Sokka does not like Jet, apparently. He makes a mental note to ask later. 

Jet isn’t looking at Sokka, he’s focused on Zuko. His dark eyes sweep over Zuko’s entire body and face, lingering on his scar. Zuko recognizes the familiar grimace of disgust Jet’s lips slightly make. 

“Nothing with you, Ashevak. Who are you, new guy?” Jet asks Zuko, the second part being in a flirty tone. 

Zuko grows more uncomfortable the longer Jet stares at him. His martial arts instincts scream at him to punch and kick and fight his way away from Jet, but he holds himself back. 

“Zuko.” He says shortly. 

“Zuko.” The name rolls off of Jet’s tongue, and Zuko shivers, a little creeped out. “You’re cute, Zuko.” 

Zuko rolls his eyes, despite his growing anxiety. He feels Sokka’s stare. 

“Excuse us, we need to get to class.” Zuko says, then tries to push past Jet, who blocks his way. 

“What’s the hurry? Next period doesn’t start for another five minutes.” 

“You heard him, we need to get to class.” Sokka’s voice is unwavering and firm, and he lightly grasps Zuko’s shoulder to pull the other boy closer. Zuko fights off a blush.

“Just wanted to ask Zuko if he wants to go out anytime, Ashevak. No big deal.” Jet says. 

Zuko furrows his eyebrows. Is Jet… asking him out? On a date? 

_ Yes, he is.  _

“I’m really not interested.” Zuko rejects with little hesitation. He feels Sokka stifle a laugh next to him. 

Jet’s face goes from at ease to shocked to angry, then he growls out, “Fine, whatever, not my fault you’ve got bad taste.” He shoves them aside, slaps the books Zuko is carrying out of his hands, then stalks down the corridor and around the corner. 

Sokka sighs, then bends over to help Zuko pick up his books. His binder and notebooks are scattered around the floor. 

Zuko walks around to pick them up, then realizes he was carrying his sketchbook. 

Then, realizes that said sketchbook is open. 

_ Then _ , realizes said sketchbook is open in Sokka’s hands. 

_ Then _ , realizes Sokka is  _ looking _ at said sketchbook, specifically, the  _ Love Amongst the Dragons  _ pages in said sketchbook. 

Zuko pales. Nobody is supposed to see that sketchbook. It’s his public sketchbook, so it’s safer to have out and open than his other ones. It’s mostly full of random drawings and ideas, but it still has some LAtD things in there, mostly unfinished character sketches and comic pages, that can give away his identity. He quickly grabs the sketchbook out of Sokka’s hands. 

“Wow.” Is Sokka’s only comment. 

“What?” Zuko tries not to growl, but it doesn’ work. 

“Nice job handling Jet like that.” 

“Thanks? He seems like an arrogant guy.” 

“He really is.” Sokka agrees, then pauses. “Sorry if I wasn’t supposed to see your drawings. They are yours, right? They’re really good.” 

_ A compliment? Okay, I’ll bite. At least he didn’t recognize them.  _

“Yeah, they’re mine.”  _ And kind of private _ , goes unsaid. 

“They’re from  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ , right?” 

_ …. What the fuck? Does  _ **_Sokka Ashevak_ ** _ read Zuko’s webcomic? _

_ No, he totally wouldn’t be into that sort of thing. _

“Yeah… just fanart.” Zuko lies,  _ and can anybody blame him?  _ He doesn’t want his identity revealed to anyone!

“You’re a fan of LAtD? Me too!” Sokka says excitedly. 

Okay. 

OKAY. 

Sokka is a fan of Zuko’s webcomic. 

_ Sokka _ … is a  _ fan _ of  _ Zuko’s _ webcomic. 

**_SOKKA_ ** _ IS A _ **_FAN_ ** _ OF  _ **_ZUKO’S WEBCOMIC_ ** _.  _

These are the only thoughts going through Zuko’s head. 

“Really?” Is the only thing he can say/squeak. 

“Yeah… Since I know you draw fanart, you should know that I write fanfiction.” Sokka admits. 

Fanfiction… for LAtD? 

_ Sokka Ashevak writes fanfiction… for Love Amongst the Dragons.  _

**_Sokka Ashevak writes fanfiction… for Zuko’s webcomic._ **

_ Fanfiction _ … for the comic Zuko created. 

“Really?” Is the only thing Zuko can say. Again. 

\--

Zuko would like to point out that he was not scared or nervous about Sokka finding out. 

_ Really, Azula, he wasn't _ **_._ **

So, in a totally not scared way, he suddenly remembers he has anatomy class starting in less than two minutes, and  _ books it.  _

The only thing he can think about the rest of the day is Sokka finding out. 

He doesn’t tell Azula, or Mai, or Ty Lee. 

\-- 

There’s an incredibly awkward air around their shared desk when Zuko joins Sokka in sitting down before lit class. Or maybe the awkwardness is just from Zuko’s side, because Sokka smiles at him in greeting, before launching into conversation.

“So, I know what happened in the hallway yesterday was kind of awkward, and if you don’t want to talk about LAtD, that’s fine with me.” Sokka proposes.    
  
What could it hurt? Sokka doesn’t know that Zuko is the creator, he just thinks Zuko draws fanart. And LAtD was an international sensation, with millions of followers(these facts still nauseate Zuko), and Sokka only thinks Zuko draws fanart. 

“Actually, I don’t mind if we talk about it. Sorry I made things weird yesterday, nobody has ever seen my art.”  _ Lie _ , at least the first part is a lie. Zuko has never actually interacted with a fan in real life, the thought has always made him nervous, and he’s not interested in starting now. 

“Well, nobody besides my friends knows that I write fanfiction, so we’re evenly matched.” Sokka replies. 

Zuko feels… disappointment. Does this mean he and Sokka aren’t friends? Zuko thought not a few days ago, so why does it sting to hear it said out loud? 

He says as much, and Sokka quickly assures him, “Sorry, I didn’t mean that, buddy. Yeah, we’re totally friends.” 

Instead of a sting, the words cause a warmth to bloom, much like a calming fire, to bloom in Zuko’s chest.  _ Yes, friends _ . 

\-- 

“Who’s your favorite character?” Sokka asks him later that day. 

Zuko’s favorite? Zuko loves all his characters. How could he not? He’s created them, drawn them, given them life, developed them past more than just names and people in a fictional story. Even ones he used to hate, he now loves. But, he supposes he still loves some more than others. 

Zuko doesn’t like to pick one favorite. Lord_Turtleduck loves to ask fans about their favorite character. 

“Ezran.” Zuko decides to go with.

Ezran, the honorable knight. 

Ezran, the warrior. The fighter. The loyal. 

_ The honest _ .

“He’s a good one. Mine is Lim, I just love her personality and strategic intellect.” Sokka tells him. “Favorite location?” 

Zuko’s favorite location is Light Water Lagoon. Light Water Lagoon, the home and under the protection of Eimi, the Light Water Spirit. Light Water Lagoon, where it is never dark. Light Water Lagoon, where nobody is afraid of anything. Light Water Lagoon, where demons and monsters are nothing more than distant memories and reduced to fairytales, and the courageous warriors that fought them are hailed as heroes. Light Water Lagoon, where Noren wins the favor of Eimi and they begin his journey. 

He says, “The Temple of Dragons.” 

“Same. For the beauty and the cool dragon statues. Did you know me and Katara once made an edible dragon statue cake for our friend Suki’s birthday?” 

Zuko did not know that, or who Suki is. 

Instead he worries mostly about the ‘Katara’ part. 

“Is Katara also a fan of LAtD?” He’s not sure he wants the answer to that question. 

“Yep! Almost everyone we know is.” Zuko blanked. He knows he should have honestly expected this, LAtD is unfortunately popular and it’s his first time at a regular public school in a new country. He was bound to meet a fan in real life eventually, he just preferred it to happen sooner rather than later. How many fans of his go to this school?

He almost misses Sokka’s next few words. “You should come sit with us at lunch today. We’re bound to be talking about LAtD, with the next update coming tomorrow.” Zuko hesitates. Sokka seems genuinely excited, and Azula had said the previous day that he needed more friends. 

“Sure.” 

“Great! I’ll meet you outside the Cafeteria.” 

\--

Which led to Zuko anxiously walking up to a table filled with Sokka’s friends next to said boy. 

He’s nervous, what if they don’t like him? 

He’s also nervous, what if they do like him? 

“Hey, losers! I’m here. This is Zuko. He’s new.” Sokka introduces. 

Zuko waves in greeting as he studies Sokka’s friends. He recognizes Katara and Toph, the former smiles in his direction and Toph greets him with a loud “Sparky!”. 

He observes the small, short boy seemingly clinging to Katara, who’s wearing an odd orange hoodie with blue arrows going down the sleeves and back. The attractive girl with almost blinding long white hair, tanned skin, and close to the same blue eyes as Sokka and Katara. The firm and tough looking girl with short auburn hair and grey-blue eyes. 

“This is Aang, Yue, and Suki. And you’ve already met Katara and Toph, it seems. Guys, be cool, he likes LAtD too.” Sokka sits down next to Suki and pulls Zuko to sit on his other side. 

The group snaps to attention and all grow excited. 

“Do you write fanfiction? Fanart?” Aang immediately asks. His voice is young and excited, Zuko notes that he can’t be older than fourteen. 

“Yeah, I draw fanart.” He couldn’t lie to the group, not after Sokka has already seen his drawings. 

“Can we see?” Suki asks, of course she asks.

Zuko hesitates, which the group seems to pick up on. 

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Yue assures him, and her voice is soft and gentle, almost like Zuko is a baby kitten or puppy and she’s trying to calm him down. 

_ It reminds him of Eimi, almost.  _

“I’m almost done with the editing on my latest chapter of  _ Long Live the Emperor _ . I need beta readers!” Sokka says, and Zuko’s mind is once again reeling. 

_ Long Live the Emperor _ ? Where has he heard that name before? 

Zuko doesn’t read fanfiction. He makes it a point to stay away from those stories, not wanting any of it to bleed into the original work, and to avoid plagiarism claims. But, for some reason, Zuko wants to read Sokka’s work, even if he doesn’t know how good of a writer Sokka really is and doesn’t care to pretend his work is good. 

“What about you, Zuko?” Sokka shines the spotlight in him. 

“Oh, I’m not much of a fanfiction reader. Not sure how much help I’d be.” Zuko answers, and sees vague disappointment on Sokka’s face. He immediately feels awful, but Sokka smiles. 

“That’s fine. But if you change your mind, let me know.” 

\--

Zuko likes to pride himself on his excellent decision making skills. 

_ Oh, who’s he kidding?  _

No, Zuko does not have good decision making skills. 

Which is why, against his better judgement, that night, Zuko logs onto the LAtD forums as a guest, instead of Lord_Turtleduck. 

He goes into the fanfiction section of the site, and looks up “ _ Long Live the Emperor _ ”. 

He’s… surprised by what he finds.

\-- 

**LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR*** _ → _

Story by  **CaptainBoomerang**

**Fantasy, Adventure**

*= Featured story

**3.5M** views,  **1.2M** likes,  **900K** comments

\--

What.

The.

Fuck? 

Sokka Ashevak… is CaptainBoomerang?

**_The_ ** CaptainBoomerang?

Zuko may not read fanfiction, but of course, he knows who CaptainBoomerang is. 

CaptainBoomerang is the most popular fanfiction writer for LAtD, so much so that they’ve even caught Zuko’s attention. 

\--

**LOVE AMONGST THE DRAGONS FORUMS**

USER PROFILE

**CaptainBoomerang****

_ Fanfiction writer _

**AGE** : Infinity

**LOCATION** : United States

**INTERESTS** : My trusty boomerang, writing, and forcibly completing homework. 

Followers : 2,896,344 |  Following : 24 |  Posts : 2,376

\--

Once again, against his better judgement, and breaking his number one rule when it comes to the fanbase, Zuko clicks on the story and starts reading the first chapter.

\-- 

_ “Peasant? Is that meant to insult me? Honestly, I’d return the barb if I thought you a man.” Noriko countered.  _

_ Noren’s eyes widened. This man… this _ peasant _ … thought himself worthy of being less than worshipping towards the Dragon Emperor? Is that what the Emperor deserved? _

_ But, he realized that here and now, he wasn’t the Dragon Emperor. He wasn’t all-powerful and immortal. He wasn’t able to shapeshift into his dragon form. He didn’t live in a palace anymore.  _

_ He was only the Dragon Emperor in spirit and his own mind.  _

_ It was funny to think about. Lim always said the mind can be a powerful ally or your greatest enemy. Right now, his mind was his enemy. He needed it to be an ally. _

**Excerpt from** **_Long Live the Emperor_ ** **, Chapter 2 by CaptainBoomerang**

\-- 

Zuko has to stop himself from continuing reading after he finishes the first two chapters. If he continues on, he knows he won’t be able to stop. 

Sokka’s writing is just so… 

_ Perfect. _

This is Zuko’s story, in writing. Something he’s never been able to do. 

_ It’s so much more than he deserves.  _

Zuko shakes the thoughts out of his head, and focuses on finishing the four pages he’s working on for the new chapter of Part 3. 

\--

At lunch the next day, Zuko doesn’t inform Sokka that he read part of his fanfic. He’s again invited to sit with the group at lunch(and now, everyday after that). 

Today, he’s more open with them. They’re curious about his childhood, but Zuko doesn’t go into detail. No need to traumatize and chase away any of his new  _ friends _ . 

He learns that Aang lives with his adopted father, Gyatso, who is a monk and teacher at a local religious temple, and Aang wants to major in religious studies in college. He also has a large shepherd dog named Appa and a Siamese cat named Momo. 

Toph was more than happy to tell him about her awfully overprotective and clueless parents. Maybe Zuko can form a stronger bond with Toph, she seems to have more in common with him than he thought. 

Suki is a black belt in tessenjutsu _ (try saying that five times fast) _ and uses war fans to fight. She helps teach martial arts to kids at a local dojo. Zuko tells her that he is a black belt in both taekwondo and karate, and she proposes a spar soon. 

Yue also is a victim of slightly horrible rich parents. Her father, Arnook, runs a large boating business and Yue has always felt that he had expectations of her for a role she didn’t want to play. Zuko can relate to that as well. 

Zuko doesn’t tell them about the drama with his parents,  _ especially his father _ , but he does give clues that he had less-than-great parents. 

He and Suki are talking about martial arts moves when the conversation shifts to LAtD, and Zuko shifts uncomfortably. Mostly just excitement about the upcoming pages to be posted that night, and Zuko is reminded that he needs to put finishing touches on them. 

As they all leave to go their separate ways for the next class period, Zuko catches something written on the bottom of Sokka’s backpack in neat blue sharpie that he is sure wasn’t there before:

_ There are dragons in the sky.  _

It’s a fan-favorite LAtD quote, said by the Dragon Emperor/Noren himself. Zuko always finds it interesting when he is sent pictures from his webcomic by fans of quotes they have made posters out of, put on clothing, or even tattooed on their skin. 

\-- 

“So you’re telling me that you joined a fanclub… that supports  _ your own _ work?” Mai says over FaceTime that night. 

She, Zuko, and Azula are reading the comments and checking the updates of likes and views on the newest pages posted on the LAtD forums and websites. Zuko doesn’t normally like to read comments or worry over views, so he lets Mai, Ty Lee, and Azula interact with fans and post replies to comments. Tonight, it’s just him, Mai, and Azula. Ty Lee is at a family reunion she’s been absolutely dreading for weeks. 

“No… well--... technically, yes… but I--”

“Zuzu, you made friends with a group of people that are all huge fans of your webcomic and discuss it every day, did you not?” Azula interrupts. Her and Zuko are sitting across her bed, leaning against her headboard, balancing Zuko’s laptop on Azula’s lap, which is logged into the webcomic websites while Zuko holds Azula’s tablet with Mai on FaceTime up. 

“Yes, but I don’t think--”

“Then that is called a fanclub.” Azula ends. He… really can’t argue with that. 

“And they don’t know that you are the creator of said webcomic they love?” Mai asks. To those that don’t know her very well, she sounds bored, but to those that do(aka only Zuko, Azula, and Ty Lee)know she isn’t. 

“No, they don’t know.” Zuko doesn’t want to know what they would say or do if they did know. Would they treat him any differently? He already felt guilty for lying and not telling Sokka the truth, but now the guilt has multiplied and festered into something else entirely… a deep hole in Zuko that he is trying to escape… but just can’t. 

“Are you going to tell them?” Mai presses, even though all three of them know the answer.

“I’ve already lied to them, and I feel awful about it. I don’t know how they’d react if they knew the truth.” 

“It will get worse and worse as time progresses, Zuzu.” Azula warned. 

Zuko doesn’t answer. He’s kept the secret up for two years, he just needs to go a few more months until he graduates high school. He can finish LAtD and use the Hinote family fortune to fund his and Azula’s way through college. He can major in political science and become a politician and make a difference in the world. 

He just needs to go a few more months. 

\--

_ “When the prison doors are open, the real dragon will fly out.”  _

\- Ho Chi Minh

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be respectful in the comments, thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yayyyyy, trauma! Humans suck ass. None of this is new. Also: Zuko vs friendship, featuring cosplay and a fan club!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: This chapter contains a short and slightly detailed scene of an episode of bipolar disorder, plus a small discussion of abuse. Please be warned if you are sensitive to either of these topics.

_ “If you know of monsters, and if you know of demons, then just remember they know of you too, and they fear you because you are the dragon that can overcome them.” _

  * Unknown



\--

Zuko would like to point out that he is  _ not _ a brooder or an emo, he just is in a bad mood sometimes. 

Okay, more than sometimes. 

_ Fine, Uncle _ , more than half the time! 

\--

This argument is precisely what lands Zuko to where he is now, being forced into setting up an Instagram account thanks to Sokka and Uncle. 

He already has an Instagram account, but that account is specifically reserved for LAtD’s official creator’s account _ (which Mai and Ty Lee run, not Zuko) _ , and thankfully he isn’t logged onto it when Sokka clicks on the already-downloaded app on Zuko’s phone. Zuko isn’t sure how he would explain that one. 

Zuko hasn’t had a personal social media account since he was a young teenager. After everything with Ozai, the Hinote family was harassed on social media by random news and gossip outlets, all wanting to get a scoop on their lives and drama. Zuko and Azula both resolved to stay away from social media until further notice. 

And here Zuko was, allowing Sokka to set up a private Instagram account for him while sitting on break in the empty back room of the Jasmine Dragon that was also dubbed the official employee break room by Toph, even though the little squirt didn’t even work at the tea shop. Toph somehow managed to get Sokka and Zuko to drag a small table and four chairs into the room while hurling insults at them,  _ on a Saturday _ . 

Great friendship, really. 

“And here we have it. What should your username be?” Sokka asks him. It’s one of the few days where Sokka has his hair down, apparently not having been bothered enough to put it up. 

_ (Zuko’s been staring at it all day.) _

_ (While having a gay panic™.) _

“Oh… um… you pick.” He stutters. 

“Okay, how about… ‘zuko.hinote’? A little less creative, but fairly straightforward. And the account is private, so nobody can follow you and see your posts and activity unless you approve their follow request.” Sokka informs him, and Zuko is suddenly glad he doesn’t run the LAtD official account. He truly has no idea how social media works. 

Sokka swings an arm around Zuko and takes a selfie of the two of them, then proceeds to post it on Zuko’s account, tagging his handle and naming the Jasmine Dragon the location. 

“There! Your first post!” Sokka exclaims cheerfully, but stops when he notices Zuko’s flushed bright red expression. 

_ Which was  _ not _ from Sokka hugging him.  _

“Hey, you okay?” 

“Yep. Fine. Dandy. Awesome. Gotta go, my break is almost over!” Zuko practically trips over his own feet to run out of the room and away from the source of his blushing problems. 

\--

Later that night, Zuko gets a few follow requests from Sokka and his--their?--friends. 

He smiles. 

He reads the rest of  _ Long Live the Emperor. _

\--

On Sunday of the next week, Zuko and Azula go out for ice cream with Ursa. Azula refused to go at first, still having not gotten over her and Ursa’s problems in the past. Zuko and Uncle eventually convinced her to go with the promise of Uncle’s-famous-also-Azula’s-favorite spicy chicken curry with rice for dinner that night. She could never say no to curry. 

It goes well. They part on as good terms as they can get. 

Everything is fine, and then suddenly it isn’t. 

Azula hasn’t had an episode due to her bipolar in months. It’s pushed to the back of Zuko’s mind as it has been for months, until he finds her curled up in the bathtub, fully clothed, and rocking back and forth while muttering the old lullaby Uncle used to sing to them. 

Her episodes aren’t usually that long, only lasting a day or two. An odd occurrence for bipolar disorder, but a good one. Zuko knows how to handle them, and this time, he knows what triggered it. 

He can’t change the past. He can’t predict the future. But, he can help the present. 

So Zuko helps her out of the tub and into their room. Azula lets him maneuver her into a lying position with her head on his lap. He sends Uncle to get green tea, Azula’s favorite. He sets up his laptop to play a random Anime show, as is their tradition for nights like these. He holds her tight while she cries, comforts her when she gets angry, reassures her when she blames herself, and rebuilds her confidence when it comes crashing down. They’re both completely unable to fall asleep.

They stay up for hours past their normal bedtime, not even realizing what time it actually is until the moon gives way to the sun and the night slowly brightens. The siblings are in the same position as they’ve been in all night. Monday comes too early and entirely unwelcome. 

Uncle takes one look at them and doesn’t say a word besides that he’ll inform the high school that his niece and nephew are sick with the flu and unable to attend school. 

And if Azula gives Uncle a grateful hug later, nobody says a word.

\--

Zuko goes back to school on Tuesday that week, and Azula opts to stay home. 

Zuko gives Sokka the excuse that he and Azula were sick with the flu, but Sokka clearly doesn’t buy it. Maybe it has something to do with Zuko’s absolute inability to lie, but Sokka doesn’t push. 

Zuko’s not sure why he says this, but he still does. “I read your fanfic.”

Sokka looks surprised. “Wait, you did? I thought you said you don’t read fanfiction.” 

“Well, you complimented my art, I ought to return the favor and compliment your writing. It’s really good. You’re really talented.”

Now, it’s Sokka’s turn to turn into a blushing mess. “Really, you think so? Thanks buddy.” 

“Just one thing: the ritual of the mages happens once every thousand years, not hundred.” Zuko says, and immediately regrets it as Sokka’s face drops and the tanned boy buries his face in his hands. 

_ Dumbass, why did you say that?  _

_ Now look, you’ve upset his feelings! _

Zuko opens his mouth to apologize, but Sokka beats him to it. “Thanks again. My beta readers would’ve never caught that.” Sokka smiles at him, soft and earnest. 

Zuko finds himself smiling back.

\--

Zuko and Azula tell Piandao about Azula’s episode at their next therapy session. 

Piandao, to his credit, immediately knows the trigger. He’s not stupid. He knows Azula hasn’t had one in months, nearly a year. He knows. He doesn’t say it, but he immediately knows. 

“Do you think it’s okay for Azula to see our mother again? She saw her the week we came to the states and she was totally fine then.” Zuko asks during the call. 

“What was different about this time? If you were fine the first time, what changed?” Piandao asked Azula. 

“The first time I was excited about seeing her again. This time, I think it finally caught up to me afterwards how awful and strained our relationship was years ago. And I was angry at her and at me because I blamed myself.” Azula’s honest and vulnerable answer would have surprised Zuko a few months ago, but even now, it still strikes him how much she’s learned to open up. 

“You blame your present self or your younger self?” Piandao asks. 

“My younger self, I’m confident enough to admit that I was a demon child.” Azula says straightforward, and Zuko has to bite his lip to keep from sighing.  _ What an understatement. _

“Azula, you know you cannot blame yourself completely for your actions. You and Zuko were both being manipulated by that man. You learned from it and you grew from it. That’s the best thing you both could have done.” 

_ Piandao could make even Lim proud.  _

\--

Zuko reviews the transcript he’s written when he sits down later to start drawing the pages for the week. It’s already Wednesday, he’s starting much later with this week’s pages than he would like, but he’s had a lot on his mind this week, especially after Azula’s episode. For the first time in a long time, he’s in no mood to draw. 

Zuko holds up his drawing pen to his tablet, preparing to outline the first scene. His hand shakes, then drops. He’s not in the mind space to work on LAtD, no matter how much he wants to be. 

Except, he needed to draw. He needed to work. He needed to  _ do this _ . He needed to have these pages out and ready by Friday, which was in _ two days _ ! 

Zuko doesn’t know where those thoughts came from. He’s heard other creators like writers, artists, you name it, talking about this feeling. The feeling of owing his fans something. The fans who trust him are the reason for LAtD being huge. He owes them at least something, even if the outcome starts to deteriorate. 

Zuko really doesn’t want the results to deteriorate. 

Instead, he thinks of an author. One of his favorite authors, and the reason he started drawing in the first place. 

Jeong Jeong. 

\--

Jeong Jeong, with a last name nobody knows of and a backstory nobody can read about, is the author of the famed unfinished series  _ The Deserter _ . 

The Deserter is a series about warring nations. The main character is from the nation that started the war, attacking the world and he’s brainwashed and mind-controlled into being a ruthless Admiral for the army. An attack by the enemy leaves him injured and in the fight, the chip connected to his brain making him loyal to his home nation is destroyed, so he regains full control of his mind back. He realizes what his nation is doing is wrong, and deserts the army. While on the run, he meets a group of people who lead a resistance and teams up with them to assassinate the ruthless dictator of his nation. 

After just two out of four books of the series published, and the series had gained a massive following, Jeong Jeong revealed himself as the author, and fans went crazy. Jeong Jeong’s personal life and mental health took a big hit and he was never able to get away from the pressure. 

He ended up publishing the third book and confirming there would be a fourth before vanishing off the grid and completely going into hiding. 

Zuko fears that if he reveals himself, he will succumb to the pressure as well. Zuko doesn't want to be like Jeong Jeong. 

\--

It’s Thursday morning, and Zuko has yet to start the pages for the week.

Sokka gives Zuko a surprise in lit class. “What are you doing on Saturday night?” 

A million thoughts race through Zuko’s head. “Nothing much, why?” 

It’s a lie. Zuko has a shift Saturday night, but maybe he can switch with Jin, who has a shift on Sunday. 

“There’s an annual cosplay contest happening at a local bookstore Saturday night. Me and the Gaang are all dressing up as LAtD characters, but we still need someone to be the Dark Water Spirit. You in?” Sokka informs.

Zuko has seen several pictures of cosplay from LAtD online, and they all look amazing, but Zuko’s never seen it in real life. 

“Let me guess. You go as Lim.” 

“Very astute. Anyways, you wanna be our Dark Water Spirit? The contest only lasts about three hours and it doesn’t get super loud because bookstore and all--”

“Sure, I’d love to.” Zuko cuts off Sokka’s rambling.

\--

**UPDATE STREAM FROM** **CAPTAINBOOMERANG**

| _ Hey guys! Next chapter of Long Live the Emperor will probably be a little late, got lots of homework! _

|  _ Thank you to @jaabajooba for the fanart poster! #LongLiveTheEmperor _

  
  


|  _ Why must I constantly regret my life decision to be an engineer yet still do it? Mathslaughter, I tell you! _

  
  


|  _ I think there might be a new LAtD fan at this school! BONUS: he’s hot!!! _

  
  


|  _ Definitely another LAtD fan. Pros: awesome, another friend, hot guy. Cons: HOT GUY. #FUUUCCCKKK _

|  _ Heyyy let’s not talk about hot guy anymore okay since he’s probably looking at this.  _

\--

_ Sokka thinks I’m hot.  _

_ Sokka thinks I’m hot. _

_ Sokka thinks I’m hot.  _

_ SOKKA THINKS I’M HOT!!!! _

It’s not like Zuko’s face is  _ ugly _ … at least… his unscarred side isn’t ugly. 

Why does Sokka make it so easy to believe he’s being genuine?

\--

Jin has a terrifyingly smug look on her face when he asks her to switch shifts with him for the weekend, especially after he explains why . 

\--

Thursday night, Zuko decides to forgo the chapter update for the week. He posts it on Lord_Turtleduck’s update stream and tells Mai and Ty Lee to post it on the LAtD Instagram and Twitter accounts. 

The fans all have mixed reactions, this is the first time in months that Zuko has completely canceled an update for a week, not just delayed it. The response spans from concerned and supportive to annoyance and confusion and even outrage. 

Zuko doesn’t read the comments.

\--

**GROUP MESSAGES: LOVE AMONGST THE DRAGONS FORUMS**

3 Members 

**TyTyFlips** :  _ Is everything okay, Zuko? _

**Mais_knives** :  _ Yeah, you never cancel updates. _

**Lord_Turtleduck** :  _ I’m fine, shit just happened this week.  _

**TyTyFlips** :  _ Wanna talk about it? _

**Lord_Turtleduck** :  _ Azula had an episode, and she’s acting like nothing happened and everything is fine. I just can’t focus on drawing right now. _

**Mais_knives** :  _ Shit, can you tell her to call us later? Just want to make sure she’s alright.  _

**Lord_Turtleduck** :  _ Wow Mai, knew there was a heart somewhere in your cold, dead body.  _

**Mais_knives** :  _ You ever tell anyone about it and I’ll hunt you down and use you as a pin cushion for my knives _ .

**TyTyFlips** :  _ Wow, I just love the vibes produced by this friendship! _

\--

It turns out Zuko doesn’t need to read the comments at all. He hears first hand about the reactions of his friends to his canceled update the next day, Friday, at lunch. 

It’s mixed, at first.

“I hope everything’s okay. He never cancels an update.” Katara _. _

“Maybe he just got busy. Even Lord_Turtleduck himself probably has a life offline.” Suki.

“Maybe he’s dead!?!” Aang.  _ Really? _

“Don’t be ridiculous, Aang. He posted on his account, remember? Next week’s update is posting normally.” Suki. 

“Kind of annoying, if you ask me. How hard could it be to draw just one page for an update?” Toph.  _ Well maybe, Lord_Turtleduck has more important things to do, _ Zuko’s thoughts growl, but he very well can’t say them out loud. 

“Maybe something is wrong, but we can’t demand an explanation, that’s just rude.” Yue. 

“Guys, it’s none of our business, remember? He’s the creator, he has a right to waive updates without explanation.” Sokka. Zuko mentally thanks him for not making a big deal out of it. 

When they all turn to Zuko for his opinion, he shrugs. “We don’t know him in real life. We don’t know what could be going on in his life. We just need to be patient, and remember he probably works really hard to draw this webcomic.” 

The others accept this answer, and Zuko receives a small, private smile from Sokka. 

\--

Zuko nearly has a heart attack when he sees a specific notification in his/Lord_Turtleduck’s private messaging box on the LAtD forums later that afternoon. 

He has his notifications set up so it will filter all the messages he receives. The system sends him a notification only if it’s from an account with a * at the end, meaning it’s a verified account. 

\--

**GROUP MESSAGING: LOVE AMONGST THE DRAGONS FORUMS**

2 Members

**CaptainBoomerang** :  _ Hey, just wanted to make sure you’re okay. I know you never cancel updates so I got kind of worried when you canceled this one. You don’t have to respond, just know that we all appreciate you and the work you do! _

\--

Zuko shouldn’t respond. He almost never responds to people he doesn’t know, aka nobody besides Azula, Mai, or Ty Lee. 

He shouldn’t respond, he really shouldn’t. 

Zuko responds anyway, because _ fuck it. _

\--

**Lord_Turtleduck** :  _ I’m okay, thank you so much for asking. A lot has happened this week, and I’m not in the right headspace to draw. Thank you for being patient. Next week’s update will be the pages that were supposed to go up today.  _

\--

He keeps it short and polite, while attempting to hide the feelings of immense guilt eating away at him. 

\--

**CaptainBoomerang** :  _ No problem, buddy! Hope it gets better:) _

\--

Maybe Zuko gets tired sometimes. Maybe he’s lying to his friends. 

Maybe Sokka wouldn’t treat him the same if he knew who Zuko really was.

Zuko, for just a moment, doesn’t care about any of it.

This is why he does this. For fans and people like Sokka Ashevak.

\--

On Saturday, Zuko enlists the help of an all-too-willing Azula who wants to get away from washing dishes and an overeager Ty Lee through FaceTime who claims to be proud of Zuko for going out with his first non-family-friends group of friends. 

Zuko doesn’t need to lift a finger, apparently. Azula makes sure of that. She brings out one of her suitcases from Japan and opens it to reveal an already-made Dark Water Spirit mask. It has a personal memory attached to it. 

Last year, a LAtD fan cosplayed as the Dark Water Spirit for a con, and posted pictures of it on the forums. Zuko, as Lord_Turtleduck, commented on it and said that it was the best cosplay he’d ever seen, the fan mailed Zuko the costume. Well, mailed it to Ty Lee, who mailed it to Zuko. 

The costume comes with the signature theatre-like mask of the spirit’s face, and the tight, almost spy, all-black outfit. The good news is, Zuko’s a lot skinnier and younger than the fan was, so it fits him differently. No chance of anyone recognizing it from the photos.

\--

Sokka picks him up later that night, and together, they walk four blocks from the Jasmine Dragon to the bookstore. It’s cold out, they’re both wearing jackets, and Zuko can’t see Sokka’s costume. 

“So, I’ve been wondering, why did you move from Japan?” Sokka asks him, breaking the comfortable silence that’s fallen over them. 

“You could say we needed a fresh start. Our uncle lives here, but you already knew that.” Zuko answers vaguely. He has no interest in divulging into his trauma in front of Sokka.

“Something happen back home?” And damn it, Sokka nailed that one. 

“Me and Azula… we… well… our father… he wasn’t the best father in the world. We didn’t exactly have a perfect childhood.” Zuko goes deeper, hoping to satisfy Sokka’s curiosity. 

When Sokka changes the subject, he knows he’s succeeded. 

“So, how are you liking Westfield?” 

“It’s better here. Indiana is a stark difference from Japan, but easier.” 

“Easier how, exactly?” Sokka inquires.

“Easier to live.” When that doesn’t have the effect he wanted it to, Zuko continues. “Easier to be myself. Nothing much is expected of me here.”

“I can understand that. I’d rather be allowed to decide for myself and run into the unknown without having everything planned out for me.” Sokka seems to understand Zuko a lot more than he let on. Zuko files this thought away for a later date.

“I felt trapped in Japan. I felt like I couldn’t do anything for myself.”

“I sometimes feel trapped when people associate me with some of the homophobic, sexist idiots on my lacrosse team.”

“You just feel like you can’t be more than what people expect you to be.” 

“And if you try to break that mold--”

“You can end up getting hurt.” Both boys finish together. 

“But if you don’t try to break that mold, you get hurt worse. You pretend to be someone you aren’t. And in the process, it only ends up hurting you more.” Zuko ends. Sokka is staring at him like he’s seeing Zuko in a whole new light, and Zuko slightly shivers under the intensity of his gaze. 

They stop at a crosswalk, in silence again, the only sounds heard are the sounds of cars driving by. The red headlights illuminate their faces, casting almost a bright glow that considerably darkens Sokka’s normally bright blue eyes.

Zuko barely hears Sokka’s concealed whisper. 

_ “Who hurt you?” _

\--

They reach the bookstore a few minutes later, this time in complete silence. When they enter, the boys take off their jackets and Zuko puts on his mask. 

Zuko marvels at the intricate detail of Sokka’s costume. Sokka’s wearing Lim’s round spectacles, red silk robes with gold lace detailing that has an official Dragon Empire insignia crest near the breast. He’s wearing dark, almost blood red satin pants and black boots. Zuko must say, it’s a creative genderbent Lim. 

_ He looks hot _ . Zuko blinks and throws that thought away, glad for the mask covering his blush.

Instead, he looks around for the rest of their friends, and slightly breathes a sigh of relief when Aang comes bounding over to them.

Aang is dressed as Kazuko the mage and is wearing a lighter, spiky-hair wig that covers his much shorter, much darker hair, a thin white cotton long-sleeve shirt with brown overalls, brown laced-up arm bracers, and carrying Kazuko’s signature wooden staff that has blue and pink crystals at the top. It’s a standard beginner mage uniform, but with no rank or indication of level of power because the prodigy mage doesn’t have one. Also, no shoes, as an ode to Kazuko’s sworn pacifism. 

For a moment, Aang could be mistaken for Kazuko. 

To Zuko’s surprise, Aang bounces over to him and Sokka and practically climbs all over them in a hug. Zuko tenses up, uncomfortable with the sudden close contact, and Sokka merely rolls his eyes and gives Aang an amused smile. 

“You guys look amazing! Everyone’s in the back getting ready, come on!” Aang pulls them to the back of the bookstore and into a small room that holds about twenty other people. Zuko is a little shocked by how little people showed up to participate, then remembers he’s only seen the pictures from nationwide and statewide cons, and really can’t make the comparison.

He sees Yue first, only because she’s literally the brightest person in the room. She’s dressed as Eimi in her human formalwear with small references to her spirit form. Yue’s white hair is done up into a braided bun at the top of her head with two braids aside that connect into it from her temple. They look suspiciously a lot like Katara’s hair loopies. She’s wearing a long-sleeve, all-white dress with blue waves sewn in and white tights, with white heeled boots. Eimi’s look suits Yue. 

She’s talking with Toph, who’s moving her hands excitedly as she describes something. Toph is dressed as Konno, with her thick black hair in two, dare Zuko even say it,  _ cute _ , space buns on the sides of her head. Toph’s wearing Konno’s usual green tunic and signature brown steampunk-style goggles. She has on black leggings and boots, with a belt circling her waist that holds several knick-knacks, including a knife that Zuko hopes isn’t real. 

Aang rejoins Katara and Suki, with the former dressed as a genderbent Noriko with a burgundy red tunic, brown belt, cross-body bag, and red sandals. Katara’s hair is done up with a half ponytail parting tied by a small ribbon. Suki is dressed as a genderbent Ezran with thick and heavy-looking black and red metal chestplate, bracers, and leg guards. She has black boots and gloves on with a long black shirt and leggings under the armor. 

Zuko suddenly feels very uncreative. 

The attention turns to them and him and Sokka receive several compliments and comments with confusion before it’s realized that Zuko is under the mask. 

Zuko sweeps a look around the other people in the room and sees a few Hogwarts students, faeries, vampires, and a few others. He slightly smirks. They can totally win this thing. 

“Hey Zuko, you’re on the forums, right?” Suki asks him. 

“Yes, I am. I don’t post much.” Zuko tells them his personal account, zuko.hina, not Lord_Turtleduck, but the one he uses as a normal member. “I know Sokka is, but what about you guys?”

“Oh, fuck, sorry. Forgot to tell you, they're the Angels group on the forums.” Sokka fills him in, and Zuko’s stomach drops.

The Angels? Zuko’s friends are the Angels? The literal Angels? The most popular fan club on the forums, even for LAtD in general, second only to Zuko on the popularity ranks? And all in one place? 

The small feelings of guilt suddenly swell to levels that nearly cause Zuko’s knees to buckle. 

“Oh really?” Is all he can manage to say in his shocked state. 

“Yep! Toph is TheBlindBandit, Yue is MoonSpirit, Suki is WarriorGirl, Aang is AirMage, and Katara is PaintedLady.” Sokka explains.

Zuko recognizes their usernames, _because_ _of course he does!_

Together they make up the Angels, who are the legendary and elite guardians of the earth. In the story, the Angels cleanse the planet of dark forces and demonic invaders, but they disappeared centuries ago, causing the Dark Water Spirit to gain more power than he’d ever had before. The Angels of the LAtD fandom keep balance on the forums as moderators. 

(Zuko’s thinking of bringing them back as a plot twist in the eventual final battle showdown between Noren and the Dark Water Spirit. He’ll remind himself to dwell on that idea later). 

Zuko is still in a bit of shock after the revelation, the feelings of guilt and negativity swirl in his stomach, and he forces himself to smile through his body language for the pictures and poses taken during the contest. He makes sure nobody takes a second look at him, now more thankful than ever for the mask. 

His group wins the contest,  _ surprise surprise _ , and they’re each given a bag of goodies. Zuko opens his to see a gift card for the bookstore, different candies, bookmarks and stickers. 

When they all say goodbye, the feelings are still strong.

When they leave, Sokka pauses outside the bookstore, causing Zuko to stop as well. 

“Can’t believe they didn’t have food. Wanna grab some pizza or something?” Sokka asks him. 

It’s hardly a date, just a small hangout, Zuko has to convince himself. He still feels guilty, but he’s also starving. So he says yes. He also wonders why Sokka didn’t invite any of their other friends.

They end up in the nearest pizza restaurant, sitting in a small, cramped booth in the corner. Sokka starts up a conversation while they wait for their pizza. 

“So, did you like the contest? I’m glad you were able to come.” 

“Able to come” in Zuko speak translates to “barely beat doubt into the corner”, but okay.

“Yeah, it was fun.” Zuko’s telling the truth. It’s literally been years he’s had friends that were actually social, unless you count Ty Lee. 

“Really? You didn’t say much and you kept your mask on the entire time.”

“I usually don’t say much. And I was the Dark Water Spirit, gotta sell it, right?” 

“You talk a lot at school.”

“I normally wouldn’t. You’re easy to talk to.” Sokka smiles. 

“Do you like school?” Sokka asks.

“Not really, no. I… kind of learned everything already.” Zuko says vaguely, and a little too vaguel based on the way Sokka looks at him, shocked.

“Wait, what? I knew you were smart and had more education than me, but just how much?” 

“I kind of… had private tutors… like a lot of them… and was homeschooled, back home.” Zuko explained, and _ Agni _ , he sounds like a spoiled rich kid. 

“Was your family rich or something?”

“Yeah, a little. That doesn’t matter anymore, I’m not who I used to be. I left that life behind a long time ago. And I don’t plan on going back to it. Ever.” Why is it suddenly so easy to open up to Sokka more than he ever has with a lot of people?

“I’m not who I used to be, either.” Sokka’s confession causes Zuko to give him a look of shock. “I used to say that LAtD was for lovesick girls and nerds and geeks. Then, Aang read the webcomic, and so did Katara and Yue. They’re the ones who got the entire group into it. I’m happy to say I immediately changed my mind. It’s hard, isn’t it? Changing who you are, even for the better.”

Part of Zuko knows it’s silly to be happy that somebody finally gets it. Uncle and Azula get it. They know that Zuko has changed a lot from being that naive, outspoken, and defiant thirteen-year-old. 

But Sokka is the first person to get all of it. 

\--

_ “Fairy tales are more than true, not because they tell us demons exist, but because they tell us dragons can beat them.”  _

\- Unknown

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bromance confusion. Zuko is oblivious. Sokka is a simp. None of this is new, seriously. Cheesiness level is back up(it was never down). Oh yeah, and a shit ton of trauma is dropped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: this chapter contains fully detailed child abuse and traumatic experiences, character death, and all-around hating on Ozai.

_ “No, I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith.” _

  * R. A. Salvatore



\--

The first half of April along with Spring Break passes by without Zuko’s notice. Everyday he wakes up with a strange longing to go to school. He arrives to literature class as early as possible, because he and Sokka have started the unofficial and unspoken tradition of waiting and talking together in the classroom. They talk about schoolwork, check each other’s homework, Sokka’s bad jokes, about LAtD and Sokka’s upcoming  _ Long Live the Emperor _ chapters. 

Whenever she can, almost everyday, the gremlin aka Toph Beifong drags Zuko and Azula into the unofficial employee break room and rants animatedly about her day with her awful parents after they finish their shifts in the tea shop. Sometimes Aang comes along and simps over Katara and/or Appa and Momo. Those topics are the main topics of conversation that occur in the unofficial employee break room. 

Katara lovingly and brutally mother-hens Zuko and occasionally Azula when either is not exhibiting proper lifestyle choices, whether it be eating properly or unhealthy sleeping habits, chastising and glaring them into listening to her. Suki’s along for the ride.

As time passes, Zuko only grows more and more guilty about keeping his secret.

\--

“Do you ever write your own stuff, instead of fanfiction?” Zuko asks Sokka one Saturday, while they’re hanging out in Zuko and Azula’s bedroom(Zuko made sure to hide his digital art equipment)after Sokka shows up to the Jasmine Dragon and demands Zuko’s attention, which Uncle gleefully lets Sokka have.

“Sometimes.” Sokka admits. “But I just don’t think it’s as good as my fanfiction. It’s easier when it’s someone else’s characters and setting. It’s fun to play around with those elements and take them in a way the original author never would. I don’t have to worry if it’s good, because it’s fun. But when I try something of my own, it’s constant worry. Is the setting and plot creative enough? Are the characters diverse and well-rounded? What character development do they go through? It just… never seems good enough. Do you draw anything besides LAtD fanart?” 

“Well, yeah I do, but mainly LAtD. It’s the main thing I’m into right now.” Zuko answers, and it’s true, he does draw other things. 

“Can I see some of your pictures? Unless they’re private, I mean.”

It sounds only fair to Zuko, Sokka shared his writing with him, it’s only fair that Zuko share his art. “Sure.” Zuko grabs his schoolwork sketchbook, it seems the safest option. 

It’s mainly filled with concept art, more possible things that Zuko would draw digitally in the future, but to anyone else, it looks like interpretations and practice doodles. Zuko looks through the book, slides a few drawings out that he is sure aren’t comic pages or future comic pages, and hands them over.

Sokka takes his time. His examination of the drawings is slow and methodical. When he turns a page, he stacks and lines them up carefully. 

When he’s done, he speaks again. “You should post these online. You’ve gotten closer to Lord_Turtleduck’s style than anyone else I’ve ever seen. These are amazing.” He holds up a specific page. “I really like this one.”

The drawing is of Ezran, in his Dragon Empire knight armor. His armor is covered in scrapes, he’s got a bloody nose and a few cuts littering his face from battle. He holds his iconic enchanted golden dragon sword defiantly and proudly at his side, like he’s ready for another fight. 

Zuko admires Ezran, even if Ezran is a fictional character. Zuko sees Ezran as the honorable and courageous warrior he always wanted to be when he grew up. Ezran was always a dream, but Zuko has to live in reality. 

“You can keep it if you want.” Zuko offers, he’s not using the drawing in a comic, and really has no use for it. Why not let someone else have it?

“Really? Are you sure?” 

“I’m not doing anything with it.”

“Post them online.”

“No way.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to. It makes me nervous.”

“Well, don’t be. People will love them.” 

Zuko shakes his head. Sokka doesn’t know, of course, the real reason Zuko doesn’t want to share his artwork to millions of people is the fear of someone linking anything he posts as zuko.hina to Lord_Turtleduck. Plus, the pictures are concepts, half-formed thoughts, they’re not ready for the world. Zuko’s half-convinced one of the only reasons LAtD is so popular and successful is because he’s a stickler for perfection when it comes to his artwork. 

“Okay, thanks. Do you mind if I show this to Katara and the others? They won’t share it if I ask them not to, and they’ll love it.” 

“Sure, I guess.” Zuko doesn't see the harm, as long as they don’t end up online. 

“Cool, thanks buddy.” Sokka smiles, and _oh no_ , it’s Zuko’s favorite soft and earnest smile, _and_ _fuck, it’s super cute._

Soon after, they’ve both lost track of time and Uncle is calling Zuko down for dinner. When he sees Sokka still with him, he smiles and gives them two bowls of curry to eat in Zuko and Azula’s bedroom. Azula laughs and then threatens that if they spill anything on her bed she’ll strangle them with her feet, something she definitely  _ can do _ , and something she used her years of forced ballet lessons to accomplish. 

Sokka and Zuko sit on the floor and watch Schitt’s Creek on Zuko’s laptop, sharing laughter and smiles together, while Zuko watches Sokka bravely face his uncle’s infamous spicy noodles with shrimp(Sokka fails horribly). 

(“Seriously, how can you stand something this spicy?”

“It’s a family thing.”)

They’ve soon lost track of time, and Katara is aggressively calling Sokka’s phone to remind him that  _ it’s past his curfew, and she can only cover for him for so long, and-- _

“Okay, okay, I get it, I’m coming home.” Sokka assures his sister, then hangs up. He turns to Zuko. “Thanks for letting me hang out here, buddy. I really appreciate it.” Sokka seems to hesitate for a split moment, then leans forward and plants a small kiss on the swell of Zuko’s cheek, effectively shocking him and causing his face to turn multiple different shades of red. When Sokka pulls away, there’s a small blush on his face as well, and they say goodnight before parting ways. 

\--

“He kissed you on the cheek?” Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee all ask in different ways the next day when Zuko tells them what happened. Like every time, he and Azula sit on his bed with Mai and Ty Lee over FaceTime. 

“... Yes?” Zuko says. 

“He likes you!” Ty Lee squeals, and Zuko can’t repress the flicker of hope blossoming in his chest. 

“Can’t imagine why.” Azula snickers, but the words have no venom or harsh meaning behind them. 

Zuko opens his mouth to respond, when he receives a text. His heart starts beating harshly when he realizes that it’s from Sokka. The three girls pause when they see his shocked face, and Azula glances over and sighs. 

“Well? Aren’t you going to answer it?” Azula presses him, also telling Mai and Ty Lee who texted.

Zuko flushes when he realizes he’s been staring at the unopened text for a few minutes. He takes a deep breath and opens it.

**Sokka Ashevak** :  _ Hey, are you busy? _

_ (Yes, Zuko is an old grandpa and has full names for contacts. Sue him.) _

**Zuko Hinote** :  _ No, why? _

**Sokka** :  _ Wanna do something? _

**Zuko** :  _ Like what? _

**Sokka** :  _ Take a drive with me? _

\--

And that’s how Zuko found himself sitting in the car-side passenger seat in Sokka’s blue jeep, listening to _christmas music_ (???) as Sokka drives through a camping trail in the woods.

Sokka parks at a campsite and they get out. Sokka beckons Zuko to follow him as the other boy enters a hiking trail. 

“You sure you aren’t here to murder me without any witnesses?” Zuko jokes.

“Nah, I like you too much. And people would know it was me, I told Katara I’d be with you today.” 

Zuko nearly snorts in laughter, and Sokka smirks.

“I actually brought you here to show you something.” Sokka provides, and he grabs Zuko’s hand before pulling the other boy along the hiking trail.

\--

“It’s… beautiful.” It truly is.

Sokka and Zuko sat on a smooth, large rock at the base of a waterfall. The sunlight reflected off the crystal water, making the sight all the more lovely. 

Zuko’s seen beauty before. The cherry blossom trees in Japan were beautiful. His mother and Azula were beautiful. His childhood home was beautiful. Sokka… is beautiful. 

But, this is a different kind of beautiful. Zuko doesn’t know if he’s seen it anywhere else, and he can’t explain it. But it’s right here. 

\--

Once again, they lose track of time. It’s almost sunset before they know it. They haven’t talked in hours, and both are okay with it. They admire the waterfall together. One, who has seen it’s beauty before but it has never failed to amaze, and the other, who’s new to the sight and to the idea of this kind of beauty. 

Zuko finds his mind going back to his secrets. He wants to tell Sokka. He wants to tell Sokka so badly. 

But he just can’t. 

Instead, Sokka is the one who breaks the silence. “What happened to you?” 

That is not at all what Zuko was expecting. “Pardon?”

“Someone hurt you. Someone hurt you really badly.” Zuko doesn’t answer, but it wouldn’t matter even if he did. His silence and the large burn scar that marred his face are proof enough. 

“Do you trust me?” 

_ Yes _ , Zuko thinks,  _ a thousand times yes _ . He nods.

Sokka doesn’t say anything else. He holds up a hand in the air between them, letting it just hang there, a clear offer and plenty of room for Zuko to refuse. 

Zuko doesn’t refuse. 

Slowly, incredibly slowly, he moves his head and fits the scarred side to rest in Sokka’s outstretched palm. Sokka doesn’t give a look of disgust after touching the scarred and bumpy skin. His brows furrowed into a look of concentration, and he softly rubs the exposed skin. Whatever skin he can touch, Zuko’s bare brow bone, burned eye and ear. Zuko isn’t sure how long the moment lasts, but Sokka eventually pulls away. 

“Can I ask how you got your scar?” Zuko’s eyes widen. The only people outside of Uncle and Azula know are Piandao, Mai, and Ty Lee. Not even Ursa knew. He hesitates for a long moment. “It’s okay if you don’t wanna tell me, I know it’s private. Here, let’s make a deal: I’ll tell you something private about me.”

Zuko nods, because  _ what would Sokka have to say? _

“I think I killed my mother.” 

_ Okay, not that.  _

\--

“I’m not from Indiana either. I’m from Kodiak, Alaska. I lived in an Inuit tribe in the middle of practically nowhere in icy bliss.” Sokka starts. “I lived with Katara, my mom and dad, and my grandmother. We were a small tribe, but we loved each other a lot.” Sokka’s voice breaks, and he stops for a moment to compose himself. “One day, I was just nine years old, Katara was seven, me and my mom were ice fishing. We were at the bottom of a cliff with a hill leading up to it, and we were fishing in the frozen lake at the bottom. I didn’t know until it was too late that it was avalanche territory, and I screamed really loudly when I caught a huge fish, and she tried to quiet me down, but I just didn’t care… and the next thing I knew, there was a huge avalanche, and we were running but it was too late, and we both were buried in snow. Somebody from the tribe heard us screaming and came to help. They were able to dig me out because I was only half-buried and unconscious, but when they tried to help her… it was too late.” Sokka’s voice breaks again, and tears stream down his face. Zuko grips his shoulder. “She was gone. She’s dead and it’s my fault!” 

Zuko recognized this as a case of survivor’s guilt. According to Piandao, survivor’s guilt is a mental condition that occurs when a surviving victim of an accident or some sort of traumatic event feels that by surviving when others did not, they have done something wrong. It’s often a feeling of self-guilt. 

Sokka survived an accident he believes he caused, and his mother did not. 

Zuko latches onto Sokka, cradling the other boy’s head against his neck and pulling him into a hug, like his mother used to do to Zuko. Sokka is practically inconsolable, tears pour down from his eyes and land on Zuko’s neck, soaking his shirt. His lean but muscular frame shakes in Zuko’s arms, and Zuko wonders when he became a comforting person. 

Sokka cries himself out a few minutes later, and takes himself out of their embrace, wiping his face and nose. “Wow. I’ve never told anyone that before. Not even my dads or Katara.”

“Thank you for trusting me with this. Wait… did you say ‘dads’?” Zuko asked.

“Yeah. Me, my biological dad, my dad’s best friend Bato, and Katara moved down here a few months later. We just couldn’t stand to live in the tribe anymore. Too many memories were becoming painful. We visit, at least once a year. My grandmother still lives up there. A few years after living here, Bato and my dad married, and he became my stepfather.” Sokka explained. 

Did Sokka really trust him enough to know his deepest secret despite only having met Zuko a month and a half ago? How hard was it to trust so easily? Zuko wanted these answers. 

“My father gave me this scar.” Sokka’s eyes widened. “I was thirteen. I came out as gay to my family. My father… he’s very conservative. He didn’t like that. He grabbed me by the neck,” Zuko sniffled, tears poured up in his eyes, and this time, it was Sokka’s turn to latch on and strangle the other boy in a hug. “He said to me, ‘you will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher’, then he pushed half of my face onto a lit stove… and well, here it is.” 

Zuko broke down crying, and Sokka clung to him tighter, trying to fight off a loud verbal scream and vomit threatening to make its way up his throat. If they had been standing, they would have both fallen to the ground. 

“Azula called Child Protective Services, and our father was arrested and we were taken into foster care for about four years, until our Uncle finished the process and adopted us, and we moved to the United States. You know the rest.” Zuko finished the traumatic story.

Sokka weighed his responses, and took a few moments to respond. “Writing, for me, is a way to completely immerse myself in the story and get away from reality, if only for a few short moments. It helped me tremendously when my mom died. I think that for you, drawing is the exact same idea.” 

“My therapist gave me the idea to try new things using my creativity. Azula and our friends Mai and Ty Lee made up a whole list of hobbies I could try.” 

“A  _ whole list _ ?” 

“It was alphabetized.” 

“I-- just wow.” 

“Did you have any skills before the list?” 

“Swordfighting, aka harsh fencing. Martial arts. Things I was forced to participate in as a child.” 

“Zuko… buddy… were you guys rich or something?” 

Zuko’s silence answers Sokka’s question. 

“You can…. SWORDFIGHT???” This time, Sokka does scream. “That’s amazing. You’re amazing. Tui and La, Zuko, you’re amazing!” Zuko blushes. “Smart, artsy, hot, and athletic? You are the literal embodiment of ‘get you a man that can do both’!” 

_ Wait, did Sokka just call him hot? _ Zuko decides to be bold for once in his life. “Well, so are you. You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. And an incredible writer. And a star athlete. Plus, not so bad looking yourself.” Zuko’s blush has grown to a large tomato. He sees Sokka’s face turn red as well as the tanned boy takes in his words. 

“You learn anything else from this list?” 

“Knife-throwing. How to disable someone by hitting their pressure points in a fight. Archery. Sewing. Cooking.” 

“Woah, woah, woah. Back up. Knife-throwing? Pressure points? Whose idea was it to teach a teenager to do these things?” 

“Mai taught me to throw knives. Ty Lee insisted on learning pressure points with me, she wants to be a physical therapist when she’s older.” 

“And how long has Mai been able to throw knives?”

“Since she was seven. Why?” 

“Teach me.”

“I beg your pardon?” 

“I mean, teach me to swordfight. Or fencing, whatever you want to call it.” Sokka gives him a pleading look, complete with the puppy dog eyes that Zuko  _ cannot _ say no to. 

“Fine. I will teach you swordfighting. As long as you promise to listen and  _ safely _ practice!” 

“Yeah!”

\--

He gets a text from Sokka later that night. 

It’s a picture of the drawing of Ezran Zuko gave him. Sokka has framed it, and hung it on his wall.

Zuko goes to bed feeling giddy inside. 

\--

Zuko’s weekly schedule becomes something he hasn’t had in years.

_ Actual social plans. _

It becomes so much that he has to get a blank weekly planner from Azula to write everything down(Azula  **_loved_ ** planners). 

He has school, homework, tea shop work shifts, drawing for LAtD, therapy sessions, the occasional outing with his friends, and sword practice with Sokka. 

His schedule is constantly shifting, and he has never felt more busy. 

Zuko… likes it. He likes feeling busy, having an actual home and life again. It’s something he hasn’t had in a long time.

\--

As it turns out, Zuko discovers, it’s hard keeping up a weekly high page count when you spend most afternoons swordfighting and beating the ass of the boy you like, on top of having a part-time job and school, with graduation coming up in the next few months. 

Sokka has a natural knack for fencing, Zuko discovers. After school, usually three out of five days a week, when neither of them have plans and Zuko isn’t working, Sokka and Zuko walk from school to Uncle’s apartment, where they drop off their backpacks and do homework. Then, they drive to the woods to Sokka’s waterfall, where they hide their toy swords for practice, because  _ we can’t use real swords, Sokka.  _ They practice until five or six pm at the latest, then drive back, and say goodbye after Sokka picks up his backpack and leaves. 

Zuko sets a rule for himself. Every night, at six pm or whenever he is home for the rest of the day, he cuts off his internet connection and forces himself to turn off his phone, then shuts himself away in his room and draws. Lately, he’s been able to average one or two pages a week, and hopes that the fans don’t notice the lower page count. Thankfully, since Zuko is a stubborn stickler( _ and Azula pries at him a lot more) _ , the quality hasn’t gone downhill. 

On the weekends, Zuko takes a break. First, so he doesn’t burn out. Second, because he draws pictures for Sokka. Once Sokka asks to see more of Zuko’s work, Zuko can’t say no because he likes drawing for Sokka, and Sokka likes looking at them. He draws Lim mostly, Sokka’s favorite character is Lim. Lim genderbent to be a boy, Lim in her alchemist gear, and her Dragon Empire advisor robes. He doesn’t post the drawings online, despite everything Sokka and his friends tell Zuko to. 

Zuko knows he should stop. Stop giving them evidence, especially when they all comment all the time how close the drawings are to Lord_Turtleduck’s work. Stop giving them reasons to be suspicious of him. 

Or better yet, tell them. He’s aware they should know the truth, they shouldn’t be lied to like this. 

He’s aware, but he just can’t tell them.

\--

“He told me how his mother died. He told me practically all of his insecurities. What right do I have to hide this huge secret from him?” Zuko rants to Piandao during one therapy session with Azula. 

“But you did tell him a huge secret. You told him how you got your scar.” Azula remarks. 

“Well, yeah, but…”

“But nothing, Zuzu. You being a secret famous webcomic artist is none of anyone’s business, even if they are your fans. You made the choice to keep it a secret a long time ago, and you’ve stuck to that choice. Grow a spine.” 

“Azula’s right, Zuko. It’s your choice to tell him and your friends. You shouldn’t feel pressured to tell anyone, but maybe it will do you some good to at least tell your friend Sokka, if you know you can trust him.” Piandao informs him. 

“I know, but I--”

“What’s the real reason you don’t want to tell Sokka?” Azula interrupts. 

Zuko blanches. “What--”

“Why do you not want to tell him? Are you too scared? Or is it something else?” Azula explains. 

“I just don’t want any extra pressure on me.” Zuko decides to answer.

“I think I see what’s going on here, Zuko. You don’t want to tell Sokka or your friends because you’re too scared of letting them down.” Piandao fills him in. “You are already under extreme pressure by fans to draw, and you don’t want any of it from your friends.”

_ He’s right. He’s absolutely right. They’re both right.  _

“Zuzu, if they’re truly your friends, then they’ll support you and won’t put any pressure on you to finish.” Azula concludes. 

Zuko can trust Sokka. But he doesn’t want to, and he is aware of both of these facts. 

\--

Zuko is approached by Katara the next day at school. He’s sitting outside on one of the benches in the courtyard when she marches up to him with a determined and focused look on her face. He expects her to yell at him to eat more, like she usually does, but what she says is totally different. 

“Are you and my brother dating?”

Zuko nearly chokes. 

“What? No.”  _ But I wish we were. _

“Hmm.” Katara studies his face, and he shrinks under her gaze. After she’s done peering into his soul, her face softens and she smiles at him. “You know, he’s been acting a lot different lately. More open with his family, more excited, just more… Sokka.”

“And you think that’s because of me?” 

“He hasn’t acted this way in a long time. He hasn’t been this happy in a long time.” 

“I had no idea… I’m so sorry, Katara.” 

“Don’t be. You’re a good person, Zuko Hinote.” She smiles again and walks away. 

She means well, her intent was to comfort him, but her words have the opposite effect. They’re like a bucket of cold water, because  _ no, he’s not a good person.  _

\--

“I want you to meet my dads.” Is what Sokka says to him one day. It’s a rainy Friday afternoon, and Sokka and Zuko are sitting in the almost empty Jasmine Dragon. Or rather, Sokka is sitting at the counter, nibbling on a blueberry muffin, and Zuko is tossing out the older pastries and desserts that haven’t sold. 

Zuko freezes for a split second, then recovers, hoping it wasn’t noticeable. 

“Why?” Is the only thing he can manage to say.

“Well, I talk about you a lot, my dads have seen your drawings and love them, and Katara likes you. They want to meet you.”

Zuko sure as hell has thoughts about meeting them. He just won’t voice them. He doesn’t exactly have a good track record with fathers. He decides to voice that.

“I’m not sure they’ll like me…” 

“They like everyone. Well, almost everyone. They trust me and Katara’s judgement, and they wanted to meet you as soon as possible.”

_ Fuck you, Sokka. Making those puppy dog eyes that he knows Zuko can’t say no to. Well played.  _

“Okay, I’ll meet them.” 

\--

_ “Dragons and legends… It would have been difficult for any man not to want to fight beside a dragon.” _

  * Patricia Briggs



  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko this entire chapter: FUUUCCCKKK!!!!!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: this chapter contains references and an implied panic attack.

_ “Let me tell you, the only way to get rid of dragons is to have one of your own.” _

\- Evgeny Shvarts

\--

Zuko agrees to meet Sokka’s dads on a Friday evening in late April. He schedules the new page to go up, just one, because of his new busy schedule. He washes his best pair of jeans and black t-shirt so he can attempt to look nice. On the drive over, the nerves in his stomach continue to rise with anxiety. 

Sokka lives in a big, one story ranch-style home with his family. It’s painted blue. When Zuko rings the doorbell and Katara greets him with a hug, the bundle of nervous fluttering butterflies in his stomach increases to an all-time high. 

“SOKKA! ZUKO’S HERE!!” Katara shouts down the hall, and Zuko hears a loud thud before Sokka comes barreling down the hall and pulls him into a hug as well. 

The Ashevak siblings lead him into a small kitchen where two older men are arguing over a book opened to a recipe for pizza. One of them, the shorter one with lighter, graying brown hair, looks a lot like Sokka and Katara, so Zuko assumes this to be their biological father, Hakoda. 

He’s right. Hakoda sees them enter and stops short before smiling and introducing himself to Zuko.    
  


“Nice to meet you, sir.” Zuko greets, shaking Hakoda’s hand.

“Hey, none of that. Just call me Hakoda. All of my children’s friends do.” The older man says, and Zuko smiles tentatively in return.

“And I’m Bato, Sokka and Katara’s stepfather. Not like my husband was going to introduce me or anything.” Bato clears his throat, and Zuko notices a large burn that takes up his entire arm. He also notices Bato’s eyes catch his facial scar.

Soon, they’re laughing and complimenting Bato and Hakoda on the homemade pizza, even if it is a little burned, it’s some of the best pizza Zuko has ever had. He’s surprised at the Ashevak family dynamic, and with how easily he becomes a part of it. 

He tries not to be jealous, he really does. 

Hakoda is such... a good dad. He tries his hardest to help and be there for his children, and so does Bato. The tragic loss of their mother certainly didn’t help, and Zuko knows the family went through an extremely hard period of trying to reconnect with each other after falling apart from the loss of Kya. And they were all still affected, still in mourning. 

Zuko has never experienced a family like this. He certainly didn’t experience it with his own family until recently. He thinks it poetic, how Sokka and Katara could be a foil of him and Azula. 

He slightly regrets coming when the conversation is steered towards LAtD and Konno’s character development.

“I love the family dynamic of Noren’s traveling team that Konno is a part of. They’ve found and formed a new family and they are loved by their friends. This is them saying goodbye to darknesses from their past and opening themselves up to new lights.” Sokka concluded, and Zuko thinks he’s falling for the boy all over again. 

When Hakoda asks Zuko if he’s into LAtD as well, Zuko tells him that he draws fanart and feels his guilt at the lie growing.

“So you’re the one who drew all those drawings Sokka has framed. You know he loves those drawings.” Bato informs Zuko, and snickers at Sokka’s embarrassed sputtering. 

“He won’t let anyone touch the frames, not even Katara.” Hakoda finishes. 

Sokka has framed every single one of Zuko’s drawings he’s given the other boy? That’s several, there’s at least ten drawings. 

“We keep telling Zuko he should post them online, but he refuses! And they’re amazing!” Katara laughs. 

“I was… I was actually thinking about it.” Zuko says, and the entire table stops moving. 

No one would be able to tell that he’s Lord_Turtleduck from a few uncolored paper drawings, right? 

Sokka’s eyes seem to light up. “Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah. Maybe later, though.” 

“Awesome!” Sokka fist bumps him and Zuko smiles larger than he has the entire night. 

When they finish dinner, Sokka practically drags Zuko into his bedroom and yells goodbye to his family. 

  
Sokka’s bedroom is mainly blue, and Zuko wonders what else he should have expected. He has a bulletin board full of polaroid photos of Sokka and his friends, a desk with i _ t’s own filing system? _ , a stocked bookshelf, and a few other knick-knacks.   
  


What catches Zuko’s attention most is the large bisexual flag hanging above Sokka’s bed. Zuko did not know that Sokka was bi. Definitely did not know.

“Look, I appreciate you coming over. Thank you.” Sokka says, and Zuko grows confused.

“Yeah, no problem.” He responds, feeling a bit awkward.

“I just want you to know that you’re really important to me, and to all of our friends. Just… remember that, okay?” 

“Yeah.” Zuko grins.

When Sokka walks him out the door and to his car, he seems to hesitate before leaning forward and, for the second time, kissing Zuko’s cheek. Again, it effectively turns Zuko into a tomato. 

\--

Zuko wakes up to hell on Saturday morning when he turns on his phone while still in bed. 

His phone has twenty new messages from Mai and Ty Lee asking if he’s okay, because he didn't update at all last night. Plus a few the night before from Azula. They go on and on, asking if he’s feeling okay and if he just forgot…?

Zuko throws off his covers and rushes over to the computer. The noise wakes Azula from her bed, who was dead asleep by the time Zuko got home last night. His fingers deftly type in his login for Lord_Turtleduck’s account on the forums. 

Lord_Turtleduck has over thirty new private messages from users asking where the new pages are. There are even messages from Toph, Suki, and Katara, and those are the only ones Zuko reads. He doesn’t respond to any of them. 

Zuko skips over to the actual webcomic sites themselves, where the pages are posted. The last update is from one week earlier. 

Zuko starts to panic. This isn’t the first time he has missed or delayed an update, but this is the first time he hasn’t communicated or explained his plans. And he didn’t plan to. 

He scheduled the post to go up before he left for Sokka’s house last night. He knows he did. Why didn’t it go up? He specifically remembered scheduling the post. 

Azula taps his shoulder, and he looks back at her, finally realizing his tense, hunched position. She’s blinking sleep from her eyes, and her hair is mussed in a messy high ponytail. Her sleeping shirt is hanging off of her awkwardly and her shorts are longer than the ones she usually wears. 

“I tried to text you last night, but you never responded. Are you okay?” She asks him. 

“I’m fine. And my phone was turned off.” Zuko snaps, and if Azula is bothered by his standoffish tone, she doesn’t show it. 

Zuko clicks the post button so hard the mouse almost flies out from under his hand, as the drawings go up, and he quickly types out a response on a new post. 

**Lord_Turtleduck:**

|  _ Hey everyone, sorry about the missing post last night. Something went wrong and it didn’t get scheduled. It’s up now! _

Replies start to flood in, and Zuko quickly clicks out. 

_ Don’t look at the comments.  _ **_Never_ ** _ look at the comments. _

He quickly texts Mai and Ty Lee, telling them that he’s okay and explains the scheduling error. 

When he looks at the time, he realizes that it’s almost ten o’clock in the morning, and realizes he has practically never slept in this late before. 

He looks back at his phone, and sees a new text from Uncle. 

**Uncle Iroh:** _Nephew, your friends are in the tea shop. They asked if you’re busy, come say hi!_

_ Fuck _ , that’s the last thing Zuko wants to do right now. He wants to die in embarrassment alone, well not alone, Azula’s here too, and he knows exactly what his friends will be talking about. He’s slowly coming to the realization that while he can escape the forums, he can hardly get away from real life. 

\--

Zuko manages to comb his messy hair and not look like he’d rather die than go out in public, which is helpful. He’s just thankful that his shift is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, not morning. 

When he gets downstairs into the tea shop, he sees all of his friends hanging out in a booth, nursing different iced and hot cups of tea. Uncle hands him a new steaming cup of green tea, aka the most caffeinated tea, because Uncle knows him so well, and Zuko takes it gratefully. 

When he walks over, Aang and Suki scoot in to make room for him, and as expected, the conversation is on the missing pages from the night before. 

The missing pages--page, there was only one--went up that morning, but apparently people are calling the Missing Pages  _ because it’s a fucking fiasco that Zuko makes such a human error because he is still a normal, functioning human being like everybody else in the world and has a fucking offline life now-- _

Zuko reminds himself to breathe.

“It’s the first time the creator hasn’t said anything beforehand. Whenever he cancels or delays updates, he always informs the forums the day before.” Katara explains, scrolling through a laptop opened at the end of her side of the booth that is turned so that everyone can see it. “Everybody’s talking about it. It’s an  _ event _ . Look, there’s even fanfiction about the characters entering a void of no escape between the time the pages were supposed to go up.” 

She shows it to them. The fanfiction, the forums, the everything. Zuko averts his eyes, not wanting to look. Sokka scans over it for a second, then shrugs. “I mean, it’s funny, but it seems kind of silly for just one missed day of pages.” 

Zuko’s glad to see at least one person isn’t making this into a big deal and blowing it out of proportion. 

“Page.” Suki corrects, absentmindedly playing with one of Yue’s braids. “Only one page. Single page updates are hard to look past, especially ones with just a conversation like this one. Nothing happens. I love this comic just as much as anyone, but I go to school, have extracurriculars and a stressful part-time job. And when I get to the end of the week, all I want to do is curl up with my lovely girlfriend and look at some new LAtD pages. Preferably a whole chapter.” 

_ Yes, Suki, let me just whip up a few dozen pages for you. It’s not like Lord_Turtleduck has anything else going on in his life, _ Zuko bitterly thinks. Zuko knows a lot of fans are like this, and he doesn’t blame them. He knows it can be frustrating to be a huge fan, but that doesn’t stop it from being exhausting when he sees or hears someone talking like this. 

Zuko tunes out the rest of the conversation, and puts his head on the table. They don’t bother him. Sokka’s hand reaches under the table and touches his knee as if to ask if he’s alright, but Zuko doesn’t move, and lets it stay there. The silent comfort feels nice. 

\--

**12.3** **M** views, **11.6** **M** likes, **7.9** **M** comments

The next fandom response statistics meeting has Azula recording these numbers in her notebook she has designated for LAtD notes. 

“They’re at an all-time high.” Mai observes from FaceTime. 

“Zuzu did stir up quite a large response from the missing pages fiasco.” Azula muttered. 

“Yeah, I still don’t know why everyone made such a big deal out of it.” Zuko sighed, flopping onto Azula’s bed.

“People care about you, Zuko!” Ty Lee remarked. 

“They care about my work, not about me.” Zuko denies.

“Have you told Sokka or your friends yet?” Mai asks, like Zuko knew she would ask. It didn’t matter even if he did answer, she already knew what it would be. 

“Zuko will tell them when he’s ready, right?” Ty Lee muses.

“I’m just scared of how they’ll treat me. I told you how they reacted to the missing pages, imagine how they’ll react when they realize that I’ve been keeping this a secret from them for almost two months.” 

“Like Piandao told you, if they’re truly your friends, then they’ll support you no matter what.” Azula reassured. 

“Can we get back to the actual purpose of this meeting?” Zuko growled, quickly changing the topic.

\--

Zuko decides, fuck it, and posts a couple of drawings onto his zuko.hinote account. 

What could it hurt?

\--

**LOVE AMONGST THE DRAGONS TRANSCRIPT**

_ PART 3, CHAPTER 1: THE ADVISOR _

_ Last edit made by Azula Hinote on April 11th, 2020 _

_ SUMMARY _ : Noren, Eimi and Lim debate their options to beat the Dark Water Spirit. Lim tells them that Eimi may be able to balance out his darkness, but his powers of darkness are too strong for her alone. They discover that they need to find out what happened to a group of elite warrior guardians that protected the world from darkness. 

**LIM** : If only you can mortally wound him, then only he can mortally wound you. 

**EIMI** : Killing him will do no good. 

**NOREN** : Why not? 

**EIMI** : Light and darkness, much like the nature of good and evil, needs to be balanced. Once simply cannot exist without the other. 

**LIM** : Killing a spirit is impossible unless it has a mortal form. Eimi has a mortal form. 

**NOREN** : The Dark Water Spirit will likely not have one. And if he does, he won’t be defeated so easily. 

**EIMI** : Monsters never are. 

**NOREN** : Monsters can be killed. 

**LIM** : Not without sacrifices. 

\--

“Zuko, you need to stop staring at screens. You’ll harm your eyesight.” Ursa chides him while plucking the tablet from his tired hands. 

He’s sitting on her couch while they watch some movie Zuko has never seen and has no interest in seeing. Darkness fills the room, reflecting the late time of night outside. Ikem and Kiyi are out at a birthday party for one of Kiyi’s friends, and Ursa was alone for the evening, so she invited Zuko and Azula to come over and catch up. Azula, predictably, refused, which left Zuko alone to talk with their mother. 

It’s a Tuesday evening, and normally would be a school night and Zuko would not be hours away in a completely different city, staying the night, but Wednesday would be a teacher work day, and a day off for all students in the county.

Ursa and Zuko had caught up, gone out for ice cream, then resolved to watch a movie until it was time for both of them to go to bed. 

“I’m fine.” Zuko lies. He has four more pages to finish for the end of the chapter to be done. He and Azula have sat down and planned it all out. If Zuko does at least four pages a week, he can finish by high school graduation. He can go to college and survive the rest of this Agni-cursed school year, and it will make it up to the fans after the entire Missing Pages Fiasco. 

Zuko has spent the last three afternoons doing nothing but drawing, even forgoing him and Sokka’s usual hangouts at the waterfall. 

“Clearly not. You need to get off the screens right now!” Ursa’s attempting to use her ‘mom voice’, the voice he hears her use on Kiyi sometimes.

It only serves to annoy Zuko. That was the voice she used on him, when he was being a brat, before she disappeared when he was younger. He missed her, missed  _ that voice so much that it hurt _ , he went to bed for  _ years _ thinking of it. Now, he never wants to hear it again. 

“I’m working.”

“Even hard workers need to take a break sometimes.” 

“I’ll take a break when I’m done.” 

“Zuko Hinote! Put the tablet down right now!” She is close to yelling, now.

Zuko explodes. “I can’t stop! I can’t put the tablet down! I can’t not work right now! I have millions of people counting on me, friends counting on me, and I can’t let any of them down!” 

“Zuko… are you okay?” Ursa suddenly goes very quiet. “What’s really going on here?” 

“It’s just  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ stuff that stresses me out. You don’t need to worry about it.” He answers, wanting the conversation to be over. 

“Your stepfather and I are really proud of you for that, you know.” Ursa finally says. “We don’t understand it much, but we’re so proud you found a way to express your creativity. You’re truly a special kid, you know that, right?” 

“It took me a while to see it, but yeah.” Zuko smiles bashfully. 

\--

Katara tells Zuko that Sokka’s birthday is coming up a week before the actual day.

Zuko immediately knows what he wants to do. 

He takes a break from the regular pages of drawing he does for LAtD, and instead starts on a new, large, blank sheet of paper. 

He spends hours drawing, but this time is different. He wants it to be perfect not to service fans, but to make Sokka happy. 

He goes on Sokka’s Instagram and spends more time drawing Sokka’s face/staring at Sokka’s face. 

When he’s done, it’s almost three am in the morning, but it’s so worth it. 

He loves it, and hopefully Sokka does too.

\--

When he hands Sokka the picture frame at lunch, with the drawing of Sokka as Lim on it, Sokka’s reaction makes it worth it. 

\--

Sokka gives Zuko a copy of the newest chapter of Long Live the Emperor a few days later. Zuko practically inhales it as he beta-reads, correcting anything factually wrong. Zuko can never get enough of his writing, but he’s unsure if it’s because Sokka is writing something Zuko made or if he’s just that good. Sokka never shows him any original work, and Zuko doesn’t ask for it. 

Sokka never asks to see any of  _ Zuko’s _ original drawings either. Sometimes, Zuko is sure it’s for the same reason, but other times he wonders if Sokka truly doesn’t care. 

If, like most of the LAtD fans, he doesn’t care if Zuko has anything else in him. 

\--

Production of LAtD is up. Four pages a week minimum, usually five, with a max of six. Whole chapters that usually took weeks of two to three pages posted per now take about three weeks. 

Zuko, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee now have biweekly chat sessions on Monday and Wednesdays at three-thirty after school, where they don’t speak a word of LAtD and instead talk about literally anything else. Tuesdays and Thursdays are Zuko’s shifts at the Jasmine Dragon, where he catches up with Toph and his coworkers. Fridays and weekends are reserved for Sokka and group hangouts with his friends, though usually he’s with Sokka. Sometimes he goes to Indianapolis to visit Ursa, Ikem, and Kiyi.

When he’s by himself, even that is far less nowadays, Zuko watches himself to make sure he doesn’t get too focused on working. But with the normal page count now being five pages a week, and especially since he’s so close to the end, that’s easier said than done. If he sticks to the schedule he’s created with Azula, the comic should be finished by the time Zuko graduates. Zuko will post the final pages himself, with Azula by his side, Mai and Ty Lee on FaceTime, and no scheduling required. 

Zuko also decides that, after making an obscenely extensive and detailed pros and cons list with Azula, he will reveal his identity as the creator to his friends after the comic is finished.

\--

One day is not like the others.

That day is a Saturday morning and Sokka and Zuko are sparring at the waterfall when Sokka gives him surprising news. 

“A publishing company contacted me a few days ago.” Sokka starts, and Zuko raises an eyebrow. “They read some of my work and offered me an opportunity.”

“A job offer? You haven’t even graduated high school yet. Or college.” Zuko points out.

“They’re thinking of turning Love Amongst the Dragons into a novel series!” Sokka announces, and a smile grows on his face. Zuko has the exact opposite reaction. 

“And they contacted you because…?” Zuko knows the answer,  _ he fucking knows the answer, please don’t say it…  _

“They want me to write it! They saw that I’m the top-ranked fanfiction writer and loved my work and they want me to write the novel series!” Sokka exclaims and practically tackles Zuko into a hug. “They’re thinking of three books for the three parts. A whole trilogy! This could be my big break!” 

“Are you accepting it?” Zuko asks, and hopes that the fear and dread he’s feeling doesn’t come through in his voice.

“Well, I don’t know if it’s even happening. They need permission from Lord_Turtleduck himself, the original creator. He needs to sign a contract allowing the novels to be written. I could actually meet Lord_Turtleduck, Zuko!” Sokka clings to Zuko tighter, and Zuko’s breathing becomes restricted. 

Zuko wants to scream. 

Wants to cry.

Wants to throw up. 

Wants to shout “NO FUCKING WAY IS THAT HAPPENING!”

Wants to say no, he isn’t giving permission. 

Zuko didn’t start his webcomic to make money off of it. He started it to express himself, to have something of his. Overtime, that wasn’t just his, but he was okay with that. 

He’s  _ NOT _ okay with this. 

But he takes one look into Sokka’s excited eyes and realizes that

He. 

Is.

Fucked.

\--

He’s halfway through Part 3’s final planning stages when he has a thought for the ending. 

Zuko immediately grabs a piece of paper and starts writing as much as he can about the idea. 

He knows how  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ ends. 

The story, the characters, the romance, the friendships, even the fanfictions and fan reactions have all led up to this moment. 

It will end in fire. 

In love. 

In courage. 

In triumph. 

And it will be  _ glorious _ . 

\--

Then the graduation issue of the school newspaper is printed and distributed to the entire school in early May. 

Zuko learns that the May issue of the school newspaper focuses on the graduating seniors. In this issue,the parents of all the graduating seniors write short blurbs about their kids and send them in, and the paper prints them with the ugliest pictures of said students they can find, and everyone in the school reads them and laughs at the embarrassing things parents have said. The issues always arrive in the third period, which is when Zuko has Mrs. Heiler for world history. 

He’s been told by Ursa and Ikem that they sent in a submission for him, so when he goes into the classroom and sees the thick stack of newspapers and everyone reading them, he grabs one, dread flooding through his body. 

Awesome. He can't wait to see what humiliating things his mother and stepfather have said about him and everyone can laugh at Zuko the loser. He heads to his seat. 

Mrs. Heiler’s gaze follows him across the room, and he instantly knows something is up. She doesn’t normally pay much attention to Zuko, so either he has something on his face(besides the obvious), or Ursa and Ikem said something they really shouldn’t have. 

Zuko hurries to his desk and tears the paper open. His hands shake as he flips past several students he doesn’t recognize and a few he does. 

When he finally lands on his, he sees the ridiculous picture of him from when he was fourteen and angry at the world, and the entire paragraph his family has written for him. 

\--

_ Zuko Hinote _

_ We’re so proud of Zuko. He’s so strong and has been through so much but he has never given up, even when those around him do. He loves with all his heart and he’s taught us so much about having passion for what you create. Best of all, he’s a brilliant and fantastic artist, and what he is most passionate about is his webcomic, Love Amongst the Dragons. He has spent so much time on this project, fuelled so much of himself into it, and built it from nothing but an idea he had in a fleeting thought. We are so proud of him and love him so much. We can’t wait to see where he goes after this. Zuko, we love you.  _

_ Ikem and Ursa  _

\--

Zuko realizes what they’ve said way too late. His stomach does a violent swoop. 

The room is silent. There’s a ringing in his ears so loud nothing can penetrate it. 

Mrs. Heiler walks down the aisle until she reaches his desk and kneels next to it. “Zuko… is this true? Did you create _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ ?” 

Zuko’s eyes widen almost comically, and the dread pools in his stomach again. He claps a hand over his mouth, but it wouldn’t matter, he can’t speak. 

“Because… well, I… probably shouldn’t show you this… but…” Mrs. Heiler pulls the sleeve of her blouse up. 

In thick black ink up her forearm are the words “ _ there are dragons in the sky _ ”. 

Zuko’s most famous quote is tattooed onto his teacher’s  _ arm _ .

He looks around, and sees all of his classmates staring at him in confusion and wonder, and is suddenly glad he doesn’t have any of his friends in this class with him. 

He barely registers someone in the back of the room saying “Holy shit. You made LAtD?” 

Zuko stumbles to sit down, realizing he’s been standing the entire time. The bell signaling the end of the transition and to start the period rings, but it’s faint. 

Blackness starts to creep in on the edge of his vision. After a few moments, it passes. Zuko sits there, shell-shocked, the entire class period. 

\--

The eyes follow him everywhere he goes. The hallways, classrooms, almost everyone turns and stares. People try to get his attention, try to talk, but he doesn’t listen. 

He dreads lunch all morning. It’ll be then where he’ll have to face his friends, have to face the fact that he lied to them for months and hid things from them. Can he even call them his friends any longer? Friends don’t lie to each other, right? 

Zuko is standing outside the cafeteria when a body steps in front of him. 

It’s Jet, the guy who flirted with him all those weeks ago, certainly not who Zuko was expecting.

“.... really sorry. I was being an asshole to you…. Sorry I shouldn’t have reacted so badly.” Jet was saying. “It’s really cool that you draw LAtD, my friend got me into it…” 

Zuko can only gape at him. Just how many of his… no, of Lord_Turtleduck’s fans went to this school? He can barely breathe. 

“So, anyway, wanna go out sometime? Like on a date?” Jet finished talking, and Zuko hasn’t heard half of what he said. 

Zuko’s stomach suddenly grows overwhelmingly nauseous, and he realizes that he may throw up on Jet’s shoes if he stands there any longer,  _ and people are starting to stare _ , and he elbows Jet to move before stumbling past him. 

Zuko looks for his friends. He can’t find anyone. Not at their usual table, not in the lunch line, not in the crowd, or even in the courtyard. 

Heads turn. Eyes watch Zuko. Whispers start up. 

Someone calls his name, he thinks.

They may have said Lord_Turtleduck. 

He feels someone grab his shoulder, and before he can react with instinctive martial arts moves, he sees golden eyes, and realizes it’s Azula whispering comforting words in his ear.

The Hinote siblings practically run out of the cafeteria and the next thing Zuko realizes is they’re in his car, with him in the passenger seat and Azula in the driver’s seat. 

Then, darkness. 

\--

**LORD_TURTLEDUCK REVEALED**

_ Posted at 11:29 am, on 5-3-2020 by  _ **_BlessedJester_ **

| Ladies and gentlemen, on this day of days I bring you the long awaited information wanted by internet-goers. The true identity of Lord_Turtleduck, the artist notorious for his anonymous identity, has been revealed by a local news source. 

**ZukoHinote.jpg**

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're really in it now.


	6. Chapter 6 - Azula Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azula’s thoughts on childhood, Zuzu, LAtD, and everything in between.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: this chapter contains mentions and scenes of domestic abuse, verbal abuse, child abuse, violence, injury, and a witnessed panic attack.

_ “People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons from within.” _

\- Ursula K. Le Guin

\--

Mother’s daughter is born on a bright summer's day in late July. 

The baby’s golden eyes contain a certain knowing spark, and her baby-fresh porcelain skin is untouched from the outside horrors. 

\--

Mother’s daughter is gifted. A prodigy. That becomes clear when she advances far more at a much younger age in almost everything she sets her mind to. 

She advances far more at a young age than her kin, her brother, Mother’s son.

\--

Daughter’s father has higher expectations for Mother’s daughter. 

Daughter’s father pays more attention to Mother’s daughter than Mother’s son. 

\--

_ Mother’s son is weak _ , Daughter’s father says.  _ You are much more special _ . 

At first, Daughter thrives in the attention and opportunities her father gives her. 

But, as time goes on, Daughter starts to wonder how good the extra attention really can be. 

\--

Over the years, Mother’s daughter slowly becomes Father’s daughter. 

However, Mother’s son is still Mother’s son. He doesn’t ever become Father’s son. 

\--

Mother has favorites. Father has favorites. 

Daughter knows she isn’t Mother’s favorite, but there are times when she wonders if she is still Father’s favorite. 

\--

When she was younger, all Azula ever wanted to was please her father, please Ozai. 

Pleasing him was difficult, to say the least. 

She mastered all the martial arts styles she could find. She, albeit unwillingly, attended ballet lessons. She became a prodigy in volleyball. 

But it never fully satisfied  _ her _ . 

\--

Mother… Ursa is gone when Azula is ten. 

When Zuzu comes barrelling down the hallway when he wakes up, yelling for Mother, Azula realizes something. 

Why else would her brother be so panicked to not be able to find his mother? 

He knew she was going to leave. He knew, he knew she was going to disappear. 

Azula didn’t know. 

Azula didn’t even get a goodbye. 

\--

_ Maybe it’s better this way. Maybe Azula is such a monster that her own mother couldn’t even bear to face her. _

\--

Azula resents Zuko for a short period of her life. 

She blames him for Mother’s disappearance.

He was always Mother’s son. He was never good enough to be Father’s son. 

She worked hard, she did everything she could to please them. She pleased Father, but she could never please Mother.

How could Zuko do it so well?

\--

Azula gets the answer to that question a year later. 

Zuko’s been a lot happier recently. A lot more upbeat than he has been for a while since Mother has left.

He excitedly tells her, that he has connected with a boy, and he has realized he’s gay.

Azula takes the news well, with reserved joy for her brother, and approves.

Father, on the other hand, is a much different story.

\--

\--

She hears the screams start first. 

Screams of anger. Hatred. Slurs. Violent screams. 

Then, they stop, and Azula hears thumping down the stairs and sounds that make out to be a body being dragged, and then the sounds stop. 

Then, screams of pain. Apologies, begging for forgiveness. They are high-pitched and young, and Azula places who they belong to immediately. 

She bolts to the source, and sees Zuzu, her brother, her kin, lying on the ground with a grotesque burn over an eye and an ear and half his face. She sees Father standing above him impassively and him turning the stove off. 

She turns and  _ runs _ before she is spotted. 

\--

She doesn’t even hesitate. 

She researches the numbers for the police and the ambulance, and hastily explains the situation. 

The police arrive within ten minutes, and swiftly arrest Ozai. The ambulance workers load Zuko into the vehicle, and wrap a blanket around Azula’s shoulders and let her sit with her brother. 

\--

Azula spends hours in Zuko’s hospital room, staring at her brother’s bandage-wrapped face. 

While he sleeps, he feels. A permanent wince is on his face. He is in a coma, fast asleep,  _ but he can still feel the burning. _

She refuses to move, even to sleep or leave to eat. 

She refuses to leave her brother’s side. She refuses to let go of his hand. 

He needs her now more than ever.

\--

Azula and Zuko are sent to live with a young couple who foster them for a few months. They’re fairly nice people, and they make sure the siblings are comfortable and feel safe and supported. 

It’s not enough.

\--

Zuko wakes up clutching his face and screaming with nightmares almost every night. Azula does her best to calm him down and curls up to him until he falls asleep.

She doesn’t ever mention her own nightmares and demons. He’s more important. 

\--

Father--Ozai’s trial takes place a few short months later. 

Azula used to look at her father with love, respect, and adoration. Now, when he walks into the courtroom handcuffed and trailed by security detail in his bland prison uniform, she only looks at him with anger and hatred. 

When he glances at her, as if asking for support, she only glares, intensifying it when she feels Zuko flinch beside her. She ignores the slight twinge of fear she feels from the effects of his gaze. 

The trial is fairly quick, and even with some of the best lawyers money can buy, the permanent evidence inflicted on Zuko Hinote’s face is impossible to deny. In the end, Ozai is sentenced to thirty-five years in prison without the possibility of parole, and a restraining order is filed, which doesn’t allow him within one mile of his children in the future.

\--

When they leave the courtroom, and the sentence for Ozai finally sinks in, Azula breathes a sigh of relief. 

They’re  _ free _ .

\--

Mai and Ty Lee used to be Azula’s friends, first and foremost, but now they’re also  _ Zuko’s _ friends. 

Azula… is weirdly okay with that. 

\--

When Zuko completes his first drawing, Azula thinks she made objectively better finger paintings when she was five. 

She doesn’t say this out loud. She tells him, “practice makes perfect.”

He doesn’t give up. He keeps trying. He keeps drawing for months before he achieves any sort of visible growth, and after that, he quickly improves. 

His fourteenth birthday, he asks their foster parents for digital art supplies. They, along with Mai and Ty Lee, are more than happy to contribute to Zuko’s new favorite hobby. 

\--

It’s Azula’s idea to start up a new, large project.

It’s how  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ (horrible name,  _ really Zuko? _ )is born when Azula is twelve and Zuko fourteen. The Hinote family has always had a thing for dragons, Azula supposes Zuko misses home more than she thought. 

Zuko chose a webcomic, and at first his work is minimalist and imperfect. But Zuzu proves to be dedicated to this new story as he works tirelessly to develop it.

\--

Azula is fifteen, Zuko seventeen, when their foster home is contacted by Child Protective Services and the siblings are asked to come in for a meeting.

That’s when they tell them that they’re  _ moving _ to the United States, a  _ whole different country _ , to live with their Uncle in a small, suburban Indiana city, and their  _ long-lost mother _ lives a few hours away from him. 

\--

Zuko is ecstatic, because of course he is. 

The only emotion Azula feels is outrage. 

How dare Mother leave them with the worst man in the world, without even saying goodbye, then just try to waltz back into their lives like nothing happened and expect a positive relationship, as if she even loved Azula in the first place?!

Azula is so, so, so  _ frustrated _ , and she doesn’t like that Zuko and Uncle are pretending nothing is wrong. 

\--

The second time after meeting with her mother, Azula has an episode for the first time in months.

\--

Zuko has been happier recently. Azula suspects it has something to do with his new friends, especially the kind-of-cute boy called Sokka.

\--

Azula makes friends outside of her comfort zone that only consists of Mai and Ty Lee. 

Sokka’s sister, Katara, is overachieving, intelligent, a perfectionist, and emotionally unstable. 

Azula and Katara get along great. 

She also meets Jin, who works in Uncle’s tea shop with her and Zuko. Jin is nice, and a bit sassy. She likes Jin. 

\--

The stress begins to get to Zuko, Azula can tell. He misses an update without giving warning. He never misses updates without warnings. 

People are dramatic, especially when they don’t get what they want. 

Azula finds The Missing Pages fiasco hilarious and utterly stupid at the same time. 

\--

Then, the school newspaper issue comes out. 

Azula has never wanted to end someone more in her entire life.

If she could describe the pain and fear she felt seeing Zuko alone in the cafeteria, abandoned by his friends, clearly about to have a panic attack/mental breakdown, and being yelled at by people, Azula would. But she can’t. 

She also heavily but briefly considers driving over to Mother and Ikem’s residence in Indianapolis to murder them painfully. But she also can’t do that, so she opts to grab Zuko and swiftly pull him away from everyone and into his car’s passenger seat, then drive home. 

\--

Zuko goes unconscious, Azula panics and drives to the hospital. 

\--

_ It’s ironic _ , Azula muses. 

They’re back in the hospital, Zuko is hurt again, her by his side refusing to leave. 

_ Did they ever really leave? _

\--

Uncle arrives at the hospital a few minutes after she calls him and explains what happened. He brings tea and mugs, and makes her drink about ten cups while attempting to do damage control with Mai and Ty Lee, but the damage is irreversible. 

Zuko’s identity as the creator has been revealed, and there's nothing that AzulDragon, Mais_knives, and TyTyFlips can say that will disprove it. 

\--

_ “You must have a dragon inside you. When you need to, you let that dragon out.” _

\- Anderson Silva

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I know this chapter is very short, so another Interlude will come out tomorrow(Sunday the 28th). Three guesses who it is.


	7. Chapter 7 - Sokka Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka’s chilling childhood, his relationships with fanfiction and romance, complete with some light(read: heavy)angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: this chapter contains mentions of character death, depression, and mental health problems and disorders,

_ “You have such loyalty in your heart. Don’t you know the world is broken and you can’t fix each part?” _

\- Unknown

\--

Sokka has known the cold for most of his life. 

He’s born into a small Inuit tribe in the middle of the Alaskan tundra. They’re technically a part of an island, called Kodiak, and barely some don’t even consider them a civilization.

\--

Though the weather is cold more often than not, Sokka grows up within the warm and inviting home feeling of his tribe’s embrace. 

He gains a sister, named Katara, meaning “droplet”. Katara’s eyes grow into bright blue water droplets as she matures over time, and Sokka takes one look at his newborn baby sister before declaring her to have a squishy, weird-looking face. 

His father laughs, and his mother and Gran-Gran chastise him, but they are both holding back smiles. 

\--

Throughout his childhood, Sokka learns how to hunt, how to throw a boomerang, sailing, knot-tying, and many other skills. 

Katara mentions on more than one occasion that she longs for a life outside the confines of their tribe and the freezing tundra, but Sokka is perfectly fine staying where he is.

\--

When Sokka is nine years old, Katara seven, that all changes when tragedy strikes the family, and in a way, the whole tribe.

It’s Sokka’s fault. He knows this. Even when everyone tells him it wasn’t, constantly telling him he couldn’t have known, he knows the truth. 

The mountains and snow patterns should have been clues of them being in avalanche territory. 

But he was so  _ stupid and naive _ to have not seen them. 

\--

They bury her in a circle of stones. Sokka can barely look his family in the eyes.

\--

After Kya’s death, there is a huge change in the tribe, especially in the Ashevak household. 

Sokka takes full responsibility for her death and blames himself, shutting everyone out. He wakes up early, does his morning chores quietly and with as minimal human interaction as possible. He stops playing with the other children. He dodges and ignores all the concerned and worried looks the tribe gives him when they think he’s not looking. He strictly avoids going hunting and fishing at all costs, and instead pushes down his sexist thoughts of women’s work and shifts towards domestic tasks. 

His father and grandmother can barely function, the death of someone so beloved to them has resulted in them being so consumed with grief that neither can get out of bed. 

Katara is the worst out of them all. She refuses to speak with Sokka, or even look him in the eyes. He can’t say he’s surprised. She wakes up with loud nightmares almost every night, and cries herself back to sleep. 

Sokka also is consumed with nightmares, but he remains silent when he wakes up, fearful and panting. 

\--

Sokka can barely stand to be in their hut. Too many memories with his mother have turned against him. 

\--

Bato is the first person Sokka speaks to, weeks after the death of his mother. 

In Hakoda’s grief-filled absence, Bato steps up as Chief of the tribe and as the provider for the Ashevak family. He does double the hunting and fishing for them, and looks after Sokka and Katara. 

He’s always there as a silent comfort, and when Sokka needs him to be, verbal as well. 

Sokka’s always looked up to him and his father, and in a few months into their grief, both him and Katara have attached themselves to nearby adult figures. Katara spends all of her free time curled up to Gran-Gran, and Sokka takes to shadowing Bato around like a lost puppy. 

One day, Sokka follows Bato up a small cliff, and when they get to the top, he hides behind a snow mound. He watches Bato sink to his knees, mutter a prayer, and then collapse to the ground, crying. 

Sokka is… shocked. Bato has always been so strong, so resilient, so caring, even through his emotions. To see him break down like this is terrifying, and it breaks a dam in Sokka’s heart. Sokka can’t stop the tears from flowing. 

He tries to stay silent, but accidentally lets out a small sniffle that Bato hears. 

“Sokka, what are you doing out here? It’s getting late.” Then he notices the tears, and opens his arms. 

Sokka runs into them, and they both sit on the cliff and cry.

\--

Sokka gets better. He starts going hunting with the men again, he starts playing with the other kids. He still refuses to go fishing, and nobody questions or pushes him to. 

Katara starts getting better as well. After months of barely being able to look Sokka in the eyes or interact with him, she joins him in playing with the kids and their relationship eventually improves. 

Bato pulls the family back together. He gets Hakoda and Kanna to improve and move forward. However, the entire family feels the absence of Kya get worse and worse, until one day, it becomes unbearable. 

\--

A few months later, Hakoda breaks the news that he wants to move out of their tribe, out of Alaska. Sokka agrees with him immediately. He can’t be in their house without being painfully reminded of his mistake. Katara cries at first, resisting, but even though she knows it’s futile, she wants to leave as much as they do. Gran-Gran cries, but she knows she can’t stop them. Hakoda asks Bato to come with them, the family isn’t complete without him. 

The family moved to Westfield, Indiana, in the following months. 

\--

When Sokka is eleven, his therapist says that he doesn’t show enough behaviors and symptoms to be officially diagnosed with ADHD, but recommends different coping mechanisms, including hobbies. 

That’s when he learns about fanfiction through his creative writing class. 

Fanfiction is just… wonderful. Sokka gets to see the story taken in a way that the original author would never take it. It’s refreshing, he already knows he likes the original story, so it’s easier to read the different interpretations. 

\--

In his freshman year of high school, Sokka meets Yue.

She’s beautiful, kind, intelligent, basically the girl of Sokka’s dreams. 

However, their relationship only lasts a few months before she breaks up with him to focus more on her schoolwork. 

It’s hardly a heartbreak, most relationships don’t last forever, and Sokka is discouraged, but not sad. He and Yue remain good friends.

\--

Aang is clearly head over heels in love with Katara, and it is painfully obvious to everyone except  _ Katara _ . 

Sokka seriously thinks about marching up to her and yelling the obvious in her face, but she probably wouldn’t take that very well. 

\--

In his sophomore year of high school, Sokka meets Suki. 

She’s a badass, she kicks ass in martial arts, and she’s beautiful and strong. Sokka falls for her, and she returns the feelings. 

They last almost all of sophomore year, but break up right before summer break. Suki comes out as lesbian to him, and breaks it off. Sokka hugs her and congratulates her. 

Their relationship meant a lot more to him, so Sokka has a good cry in his bed while he marathons The Vampire Diaries and eats an unhealthy amount of ice cream. 

\--

Sokka decides to write his own fanfiction at fourteen years old. He writes it for a multitude of different fandoms he’s in, and he steadily gets better and better at writing. 

\--

His life changes when Aang, Yue, and Katara introduce  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ to the rest of the group.

With a cringey name like that, Sokka expects it to be girly and full of cheesy romance.

_ It’s not.  _

_ At all. _

\--

And suddenly, a whole new world opens its doors to invite Sokka in. 

\--

Sokka starts his fanfiction,  _ Long Live the Emperor _ , when he is almost sixteen, almost a full year after he is introduced to the wonder that is LAtD. 

He pours his heart and soul into his writing, and it slowly but surely rises through the ranks of the fanfiction subforum and gains popularity quickly. 

\--

When Sokka is seventeen, he meets Zuko Hinote. 

Zuko is mysterious, kind, awkward, and--Sokka later learns--talented and strong. 

\--

Zuko is a fan of LAtD as well. 

It’s hardly Sokka’s first time meeting a hot boy, but this hot boy  _ likes LAtD _ . 

Zuko… is different. 

His fanart is also the best Sokka has ever seen. 

\--

Sokka experiences a whole side of Zuko that hides so much pain and suffering, but Zuko still carries on through life and never falters. 

So Sokka does one thing he’s never done before. 

He tells Zuko about Kya’s death, and his survivor’s guilt and depression surrounding it. He’s never told anyone about his true feelings, he always shut down as a child. His family didn’t pry. His friends knew his mother was dead, and they never asked for details. 

He also learns how Zuko got his scar. 

_ He hurt you. Who else hurt you? Who else hurt you when they should have been protecting you? _ Sokka hopes he never finds out. Because if he does,  _ he’ll destroy them.  _

\--

Zuko can swordfight. Cool. 

Sokka… may or may not be in love. 

_ (Shut up, Katara!) _

\--

Sokka kissed Zuko’s cheek.  _ Twice _ .

Okay, he’s in love with Zuko. 

_ Fuck… emotions. _

\--

Sokka thinks the entire Missing Pages fiasco is ridiculous… utterly ridiculous. 

And he’s not the only one. 

But it seems he is one of the only fans of Lord_Turtleduck that remembers that even the incredible admin artist himself is a  _ human being _ , and that  _ life can be hard _ , and  _ humans get tired and go through shit.  _

\--

Sokka’s at home, in his room, doing homework, when his open computer screen chimes with an incoming notification. 

When he opens the email, he’s surprised when he sees it’s from a publishing company he recognizes. He’s even more surprised when he sees it come through his LAtD forums email. 

\--

“Dear CaptainBoomerang, 

We would like to congratulate you on your Love Amongst the Dragons fanfiction, Long Live the Emperor. We have seen the popularity and rates that Love Amongst the Dragons has received…”

\--

“… We would like to offer you a possible writing opportunity…” 

\--

_ “... The plan is for the series to be a trilogy, three books for the three parts…”  _

\--

_ “... We implore you to take our offer…” _

\--

_ “...Permission from the original creator, Lord_Turtleduck is needed…”  _

\--

_ “... We hope to hear from you soon.” _

\--

It isn’t until Katara confirms that the email is real that the information fully sinks in. 

Sokka could be _writing a trilogy_ _for LAtD._

**_Holy shit._ **

\--

And then, everything changes in an instant.

\--

When Sokka hears the news about the identity of Lord_Turtleduck being discovered, and Suki thrusts a copy of the May graduation edition of the school newspaper, opened to a specific page. 

One that reveals Zuko is the creator.

_ Zuko is Lord_Turtleduck.  _

\--

Sokka’s first reaction is disbelief. That reaction quickly ends, because he realizes all the signs and evidence were there. 

The drawings. Sokka said they were the closest to Lord_Turtleduck’s style he’d ever seen. 

The unwillingness to post the drawings online or share them with others. Zuko clearly didn’t want them to be connected to his art for the webcomic. 

The discomfort towards talking about LAtD. 

The understanding of Lord_Turtleduck’s personal life. 

Not wanting to read fanfiction. Zuko didn’t want to copy anyone else’s work. 

The stressful state he was in during the morning of the Missing Pages fiasco. Zuko was stressed because he must have forgotten to schedule or post the new page while at Sokka’s house that night. The fandom was making such a big deal out of it, and he was stressed because of that. 

The evidence and puzzle pieces all fit together. And now, he knows why. 

\--

Sokka’s second reaction is anger. 

_ Who did Zuko think he was? How could he not tell them? How could he not tell the fandom? How could he not tell his friends? _

_ How could he not tell Sokka? _

_ How could he carry this secret around for months and not tell them anything? Let them compliment and criticise his work like he isn’t even there? _

Sokka… trusted Zuko.  _ He trusted him _ . He trusted him with a secret and a burden he’s carried for years and never told anyone.

\--

Sokka’s third reaction is understanding. 

Zuko also trusted Sokka. Zuko told Sokka how he got his scar. 

This means… Zuko also now knows that Sokka could write the trilogy of LAtD. Zuko is still his friend. Zuko understands what this opportunity means to Sokka. 

He’d give permission, he would. Sokka was sure of it. 

\--

_ “But it is one thing to read about dragons and another to meet them.”  _

\- Ursula K. Le Guin

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The recipe for this chapter: angst, angst, angst, friendship angst, romance angst, and some more angst for garnish. Bon appetit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: this chapter contains mentions of a panic attack and referenced childhood trauma.

_ “Everyone wants the fairytale, but don’t forget there are dragons in those stories.” _

\- Randy Queen

\--

The first thing Zuko registers is his own heavy breathing. Then, bright hospital lights when he opens his eyes. 

He’s lying in a hospital bed, and there are people surrounding him. His chest seizes, and he panics. He tries to sit up, and a hand pushes his shoulder back down into the uncomfortable mattress. 

“Zuzu, breathe.” A voice instructs, and he knows that voice. 

Azula. She’s holding his hand, sitting in a chair next to his bed, and Uncle is next to her, and Ursa and Ikem are on the other side of him. 

Zuko realizes he can’t remember what happened after the cafeteria and Azula hauling his ass out of there. The rest is blank memory. 

“What happened?” His voice is rough, tired. Was he screaming before? It would make sense. He can’t remember… 

“You had a panic attack in the car while I was driving us home. I didn’t know what to do, so I came to the hospital. You were screaming, and you were crying, and you blacked out…” Azula takes a breath when her voice breaks. “The hospital gave you some medicine to help you relax and put you through all these scans and tests. I called Uncle, and Uncle called Ursa and Ikem.”

Zuko notices that she doesn’t refer to Ursa as her mother. Then he remembers the cause of all his problems. The reason he blacked out finally comes back to him. 

They told everyone about Lord_Turtleduck. Zuko’s whole school knows. The whole city knows. Agni, the whole world probably knows at this point. 

_ Sokka _ knows.

“How long has it been?” Zuko finds himself asking instead. 

“Since the cafeteria? A few hours. School just let out. The doctors told us the hospital could discharge you when you woke up.” Azula answers.

“You told them. You put it in the paper.” Zuko says, because he has to address it.

“Told them? Do you mean the school newspaper graduation issue? We didn’t think it mattered if we mentioned the webcomic. We thought--” Ursa starts, but Azula cuts her off.

“Everyone reads it, Ursa! And millions of people read the webcomic! Millions of people around the world read the webcomic and now look!” Azula shows her phone screen. From where he’s laying, Zuko can’t see it clearly. “Zuko Hinote’s face is plastered on every major news site in the United States! There are even some international articles!” 

“I’m sure this will all blow over eventually. It’ll become old news.” Ikem tries to assure, but it doesn’t have any effect. 

“It won’t blow over.” Zuko interrupts, his voice quiet but somehow louder than Azula’s yelling. “There are a lot of fans that live here, Mom. Some of them… some of them are my friends. They’re in a fanclub for my work, and I never told them.” 

Tears start flowing down Zuko’s face before he can stop them. “Sokka… oh my Agni… Sokka knows. Do my friends even know I’m in here? Does Sokka? Has anyone come to visit?” 

“Nobody besides us and the hospital knows you’re here, nephew.” Uncle speaks up for the first time. “We can go home now, if you’d like.” 

Even in his exhausted and shaking state, Zuko can’t get up fast enough. 

\--

The tea shop is blissfully empty and closed, even though after school provides the best customer rush. Zuko rushes upstairs towards his room, and ignores Uncle’s weak protests that he shouldn’t push himself. Azula follows him. 

He flops down onto his bed and tries not to think about LAtD. 

He fails. Miserably. 

Does the fandom know? Have they already been told? Do they believe it, or do they think it’s just a hoax, a call for attention? This isn’t the first time someone has claimed to know Zuko’s identity. 

He hears Azula sit down at her desk and open her own laptop that she normally uses for school, then approach him and gestures for him to log into Lord_Turtleduck’s account. He does, and the forums are in complete chaos. 

Lord_Turtleduck’s inbox number is high, so high that the page no longer displays the quick-tip number at the top of the inbox icon. It’s just a bright red circle. Less than a minute after Zuko logs in, messages start to attack his screen. From people Zuko knows, some he doesn’t. From friends and trolls. They start to trickle in, and when people realize he’s online, they come in like a rushing river and the page starts to lag. They come so quickly that the siblings don’t have time to read them. 

Zuko logs out and logs into his zuko.hinote account. It’s almost as bad in there as well, people screaming through messages. 

It’s all there. The evidence to prove Lord_Turtleduck’s secret identity as Zuko Hinote. They found pictures of the school newspapers. Articles. Even his artwork that Sokka convinced him to post online matches up with the style of the webcomics. 

In one of the messages, someone has sent a link to a post. The post is Zuko’s most recent yearbook photo. How did this person get his  _ yearbook photo?  _

Zuko suddenly feels very nauseous, and he runs across the hallway, into the bathroom, where he throws up his breakfast. 

\--

When he’s done vomiting his insides up, he goes onto his phone. 

His Instagram has been discovered, and he has several new follow requests and messages. 

He looks at his text messages. There are several from Mai and Ty Lee, they’re attempting to do damage control. Zuko bitterly laughs at that. What’s there to do? How can anyone run damage control on this? It’s over. The fandom won, Zuko lost.

What scares Zuko the most are the messages from his friends. Or rather, the lack of messages from his friends. None of them have contacted him at all. 

… Can he even call them his friends anymore? He lied to them. 

Well, he didn’t lie to them, per se, more like kept a major secret they definitely had the right to know about _ (or did they? Zuko isn’t sure anymore) _ . 

Zuko should have known that he didn’t deserve their friendship. It was just a matter of time. It had been a matter of time the moment he found out Sokka was a fan of LAtD. The day he met Sokka’s friends, who also became Zuko’s friends. 

Zuko should have known that there was no mercy with fire. 

\--

The entire internet picks up the story and runs with it within a day. When Zuko wakes up the next morning, even people far outside the LAtD fandom know who he is. They know he just moved from Japan, they know he’s in high school, they know how old he is, they know he lives with his sister and uncle above a tea shop. They may even have his phone number. If not yet, they will soon. 

They definitely have his address. It doesn’t take long for reporters and paparazzi to flood in asking for interviews and pictures of Zuko. He stays upstairs and lets Uncle and Azula and their coworkers deal with them. 

Azula tells him that the fact that he was anonymous for so long is the fuel of the fire. Anonymity on the internet never lasts, and everyone knows it. 

Zuko reads the messages. All of them. He knows he shouldn’t, but he does anyway. It’s all he can do to pass the time. He doesn’t dare go to school, and instead his teachers get in the habit of emailing him the schoolwork. Zuko can’t focus on anything, not even reading or drawing. 

Most of the messages are short. They ask questions, accept his identity, get hung up on the fact that he’s a  _ boy _ and a  _ teenager _ ( _ he doesn’t understand the boy part) _ . Some messages say how he’s inspired them. How they want to be as talented as Zuko. Thanking him for making the webcomic. 

As usual, he doesn’t respond to any of them. 

\--

Zuko pleads ill and skips school for the rest of the week. He realizes later that Uncle definitely knows he’s lying, but allows him to anyway. 

That Friday, the LAtD pages are already scheduled to go up. Zuko can hardly handle looking at the computer screen or touching the keyboard, much less logging into the websites. He can’t think about drawing. 

He can’t think about the webcomic. 

He can’t sit down and draw. He can’t look at the script.  _ He can’t do anything _ . Whatever helped him keep going before is gone now. 

He has Azula cancel the update.

\--

The reporters keep coming into the tea shop, but Zuko doesn’t go back to work. Azula does, along with Uncle and Jin. 

Zuko hears the yelling before he sees her. 

“Go away or my knives will be where you don’t want them to be!” A voice yells, and  _ oh, he knows that voice.  _

He runs out of his room, and sees her coming up the stairs with someone else he knows.

_ “Mai.” _ He whispers, before he jumps into her arms. 

\--

Zuko, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee curl up together and watch Sailor Moon on Zuko’s computer, after Mai explains that she and Ty Lee flew over as soon as they heard the news of Zuko’s identity being revealed. All the way from Japan. Zuko bursts into tears and sobs into her shoulder. Apparently Uncle and Azula knew they were coming in advance and prepared a space for them to stay the week. 

The days and hours are already shitty, but the presence of his two oldest and best friends make it a lot better. They don’t mention LAtD, or the missing update for the week. Zuko is grateful. They’ve brought some of Zuko and Azula’s favorite snacks, like mochi and odd Kit Kat flavors. Things they missed from home. Special teas for Uncle. They take over the kitchen and make meals from Japan, saving a tired Uncle the hassle. 

After the weekend is over, Azula decides to go back to school. It’s a tough decision for her, Zuko knows she would much rather stay home and look after him and spend time with Mai and Ty Lee, but she decides to scope out the situation at school to see when he can possibly return. 

He knows it’s futile when she comes home exhausted and angry, and screams into a pillow for ten minutes before flopping into Ty Lee’s shoulder and accepting a cup of offered tea. 

“I spoke with your friends at school today.” Azula tells him when she calms down. “Or rather, I spoke with one of them. The tiny kid with the arrows hoodie and large dog.” 

“Aang.” Zuko had foolishly hoped it had been Sokka. He should have known better. “What did he say?”

“He was upset. Disappointed. He was the only one of the group that would talk to me. He wanted me to tell you that he’s not mad and wants to talk whenever you’re ready.” 

“And the rest of the group?” Zuko doesn’t know why he’s asking. He already knows. 

“They’re angry. Well, most of them are. Katara and Sokka, especially.”

Wait, why Katara? Sokka was understandably upset, Zuko was the closest with him. But why was Katara just as angry? Maybe it was because of her reaction to her brother being hurt.

“Aang also said that you should try to talk to your friends.” Azula unhelpfully supplies.

“I don’t think I can still call them my friends.” Zuko admits.

Ty Lee squeezes his shoulder. “They’re upset. It’ll pass. If they’re truly your friends, they’ll get over it and understand why you didn’t tell them.” 

“And if they don’t, they’ll find out where I keep my knives.” Mai adds, and it eases some of the tension in the room. 

\--

“Ty Lee is right, Zuko.” Piandao remarks over FaceTime later that night. “True friends would understand why you kept the secret and forgive you.” 

Zuko knows they’re right, but when his friends haven’t texted him to hear his side of the story, or to check on him at all, he begins to wonder. 

\--

After another week of no school, no friends contacting him, and no LAtD updates, Mai and Ty Lee have to leave for the airport to head back to Japan. Zuko thanks them for their help, and his mood improves significantly. 

He still can’t think about or work on LAtD. 

\--

“This is ridiculous.” Azula stands over Zuko as he wallows in his sorrows in bed while staring at a playing episode of Schitt’s Creek. 

“No it’s not. It’s one of my favorite shows.”

“I’m not talking about the show. I’m talking about you lying here and not telling  _ our dear mother  _ and stepfather exactly what they did.” She growls out. 

“They know what they did.” 

“No, they don’t. Because you won’t tell them.” 

“Where’s this coming from, Azula?” 

“They’re here for a visit. To check on you. They heard that you weren’t going to school and they're worried for you.” 

“Tell them I’m fine and not moving.” 

“Bullshit. If you won’t tell them, I will!” Azula yells, then grabs Zuko’s laptop and runs out of the room. 

Zuko springs out of bed and rushes downstairs. He hears Azula yelling for attention and more yelling from his mother and Ikem. He finds them in the living room, with the laptop open to the Masterminds website with the original post pulled up that made LAtD famous. Then, she switches tabs and looks at the forums. 

She tells them everything. Explains and shows how many people truly read the webcomic. The following and popularity it has gained. 

The more they see, the more they realize. Ursa tries to claim that it’s just a hobby, but it truly isn’t. If Zuko made people pay for these pages, tip him, or sell merchandise, he could make an entire living off of this ‘hobby’. 

“It’s not just a hobby.” Azula is saying as he walks in. “Zuko is famous. Not like a celebrity movie star or anything, but a lot of people wanted to know who he was. Now, thanks to you two, they do.” 

“None of these people knew who he was?” Ikem asks softly. 

“Obviously not. Why do you think none of his friends know, except for two of them?”

“We thought he just didn’t want the attention.” Ursa mutters. 

“He doesn’t! You have no right to come back into our lives after literally disappearing for years, making us think you were dead or something horrible had happened, and then you come back with a new husband and child! Who do you think you are?” Azula is full on screaming at this point, and everyone can see the tears pooling in her eyes.

“Azula, don’t speak to your mother that way!” Ikem attempts to scold, but it only serves to set Azula off further. 

“And you! Don’t tell me what to do! You are not my father!” She unleashes on Ikem. “Do you wanna know what the most aggravating thing is? This could have all been avoided if you had taken half a minute to look up  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ . Now look at the mess we’re in.” 

Ursa starts crying. Ikem’s face is pale. 

“We just wanted to show you how proud we were of you. Of the person you’ve become. We didn’t… we didn’t mean for…” Ursa doesn’t finish the sentence. 

The floorboards creak under Zuko’s feet and they see him there for the first time. He simply shrugs. What is he supposed to do? Yeah, they fucked up pretty badly, but they haven’t even apologized for it. How is Zuko supposed to feel? Angry? Forgiving? 

He was upset a few minutes ago. Now… he can’t feel anything. 

He simply stares at them with a blank expression. 

“I think it’s time you leave.” Uncle says, and that’s the end of that. 

\--

Two weeks after Zuko’s panic attack and hospital visit, he’s lying on the floor of his and Azula’s bedroom, letting his recently-showered wet hair soak up the carpet while staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought. 

He hears Azula’s yelling, and doesn’t think much of it until his phone beeps with an incoming text message. When he sees it’s from Azula and what it says, his heart drops to his ass and his stomach starts churning. 

**Azula** :  _ Sokka’s here. He wants to talk.  _

**Azula** :  _ Want me to get rid of him?  _

**Zuko** :  _ I don’t want to talk to him.  _

Zuko’s answer is immediate and strong. He doesn’t want to talk to Sokka. He doesn’t want to see Sokka. If he sees Sokka, he’s scared that he'll break down crying. 

**Azula** :  _ He’s insisting. He won’t leave. _

**Zuko** :  _ Then tell him to order some tea and be on his way. I’m not coming down.  _

Zuko is about to put his phone down, believing that to be the end of the conversation, before it beeps again. 

**Sokka** :  _ We need to talk.  _

\--

Zuko’s mind races. Why is Sokka here? Why does he want to talk now after ignoring Zuko for two weeks? 

Sokka doesn’t wait for Zuko’s response before he starts typing again. 

**Sokka** :  _ We really need to talk and I don’t want to do it through text.  _

And again:

**Sokka** :  _ If you don’t talk to me today, I’ll just come back tomorrow and every day after that until you agree to see me. _

Zuko doesn’t want to see him because he knows what Sokka will say. Sokka will yell at him, tell him how awful he is for keeping such a large secret. Tell him he never wants to see Zuko again. Zuko can’t blame him. 

But he needs this. He needs to face Sokka eventually, and if not now, then later. All he’s doing is delaying the inevitable. 

Zuko texts Azula to let Sokka upstairs. 

\--

When he hears heavy footsteps coming up the stairs, he sits on his bed and grabs a pillow to use as a shield and curls up on his bed with his back to the bed frame. 

Zuko closes his eyes until he feels eyes burning holes into his head, then opens them to see Sokka in the doorway frame. His normal ponytail is messy instead of being neat, his skin looks paler, and his eyes are red, like he’s been crying. His body language shows that he’s unsure to step into the room but angry. 

Angry. He’s so angry. He’s angrier than Zuko has ever seen him. Zuko is reminded of the fact that he has never seen Sokka angry because he’s only known him for a few months. 

After a moment of silence, Sokka steps into the room. 

“How could you--” He cuts himself off. “How could you not tell me…” 

He pauses, then reaches into his pocket and grabs his phone. 

The questions come in rapid fire text messages, so sudden that Zuko isn’t sure what to answer first. 

Zuko's eyes begin to tear up. He can barely see the phone screen, everything's so blurry. 

He curls up even further and puts his head into his knees. He wants to disappear forever, wants the ground to swallow him up like he’s nothing. But he can’t hide anymore. Sokka is right in front of him, staring at him, looking like he really wants to punch Zuko in the face and possibly everywhere else. 

Weight on his bed causes it to creak, looking back up. Sokka is mirroring his position and staring at his phone screen. Somehow, Zuko brings himself to speak clearly.

“At first, I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t want you to see me or treat me differently. Then, I saw how much LAtD meant to you and your friends, and I just couldn’t tell you.” Zuko says, his voice breaking at the end. 

They sit in silence for several minutes until Sokka speaks again. “I thought it might be something like that. We all did.” His tone isn’t accusatory, just tired. 

Zuko doesn’t have to ask to know who “we” is. 

“I thought to myself,  _ if this was me, what would I have done? _ Would I have told you, someone I haven’t even known for that long, or would I have done the same thing you did, and hid it? Who knows? Maybe I would have told you.” Sokka says, carefully weighing each word. 

“I was going to tell you. And your friends. After I finished the webcomic, and after graduation.” Zuko remarks,  _ because he has to say something. _

“I don’t understand. How can you be Lord_Turtleduck? How could I not have noticed? The evidence was all there in front of me.” Sokka lets out a frustrated sigh. 

He finally looks back up at Zuko, who shrugs halfheartedly. 

“Are you going back to school? It’s been two weeks.” Sokka asks. 

“Probably not. I’ll just finish the rest of the year online. I don’t think I can see your friends right now. Or any of our classmates.” 

“You call them ‘my friends’ like they haven’t been yours as well for months. You know we all still want to be friends with you, right? We wanted to be friends with Zuko Hinote, before we knew you were Lord_Turtleduck. Yeah, we’re all mad that you didn’t tell us, but we’ll get over it eventually.” 

“How did everyone react?” Zuko asks, because he has to know. 

Sokka leans against the wall, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Shock, mostly. Katara and Toph were angry. Aang was sad. Yue and Suki were upset.” 

“All justified reactions.” Zuko mutters. 

Sokka changes the subject. “Have you been on the forums lately? It’s a bit… chaotic at the moment.” 

“No. I can’t stand to go near my computer anymore.” 

“I wouldn’t either.” 

And, that confirms it. Things online are continuing to be awful. Big news blows itself out pretty quickly on the internet, and then it’s onto the next breaking news the next day. If it’s still bad two weeks after Zuko’s Lord_Turtleduck reveal, then it's not going to end anytime soon. 

“You didn’t update last week.” Sokka speaks up, after a harsh moment of silence. 

Zuko winces. “Yeah. I really can’t do that at the moment. Drawing. Or posting.” 

“Will you put them up eventually?” 

“I’m not so sure anymore.” 

There’s an audible hitch in Sokka’s breathing. “You remember when I told you about the publishing company contacting me about the book deal? The books for LAtD they want me to write?” 

Zuko flinches. Fuck. It’s the very thing he doesn’t want to talk about. Dread starts to pool in his stomach.

“Yes.”

“They need permission from the original creator. They need  _ your _ permission.”

Zuko hesitates. Before this drama reveal all began, when Sokka told him about the writing offer, Zuko would have screamed  **_“fuck no!”_ ** and it would be over just like that. But now, he owes Sokka this. Sokka may never get another opportunity like this again. He deserves this. 

“Of course.” Zuko says, because it doesn’t matter anymore if his name gets out. It already has. “Of course you can have my permission. Just tell me where to sign.” 

But Sokka doesn’t look happy or relieved, he just stares at Zuko like he’s missed some big point. “They don’t want the novels written until the comic is finished. They want to know how it ends.” 

“So write the ending.” 

“They don’t want  _ my _ ending, they want  _ yours _ .” 

“I’ll tell you how it ends--”

“It’s not right if it isn’t finished by you. They only want your ending.” 

“They aren’t going to move forward with the deal if the comic isn’t finished?” Sokka keeps staring at him. Zuko’s stomach grows cold. “That’s ridiculous. It’s still a good story, people will buy it.” 

“You have to finish.” There’s a sternness to his voice that Zuko has never heard before. It makes him want to shudder and hide.

“I can’t.”

“Zuko.  _ You have to finish _ .” 

“I can’t even hold a pencil right now. I can’t draw, I can’t do anything--” Zuko tries to explain, but Sokka’s not having any of it.

“You have to finish.” Sokka’s voice is hard, stubborn. Zuko wishes his pillow could be an actual shield. “I’m never getting another chance like this ever again. Please, Zu, just push through and finish the story.” 

Sokka smiles, one of Zuko’s favorite soft and earnest smiles that could make butter melt. Zuko wants to hug him, wants to say  _ yes _ , wants to kiss him, but he just… can’t do it. 

Sokka doesn’t get it. Or, he doesn’t want to.

“I can’t.” Zuko ends up whispering.

“Why not?” The smile drops. 

“You know why. There’s nothing there.” 

“There doesn’t have to be anything there! Artists create with a lack of motivation all the time.” Sokka sneers, and it’s a horrifyingly ugly look on his face. 

But not Zuko. Zuko has never had to force himself to draw. He just does. He knows exactly what to do and what he wants it to look like. And he does it. He doesn’t understand the problem of feeling forced to create something. 

“I can’t.” He repeats. 

Sokka’s eyes widen in rage, and he pushes himself off the bed and towers over Zuko’s hunched form. “You have a perfect life, and you can’t draw a couple of chapters.” His dimmed blue eyes scan the room. 

“You think my life is perfect?” Zuko says, angrily. 

“You made this awesome and beautiful thing that millions of people love and adore you for. Everyone knows what you’ve done. They see and recognize and praise your talent. If you tried to make money off of this, you would make a living and much more.”

Zuko can’t believe it. Sokka has the audacity to say that  _ Zuko’s _ life is perfect? After all the fucked up things that  _ Sokka knows _ happened in his childhood? How fucking dare he!

“For your information, my life isn’t fucking perfect. I had to move here, on a whim, because we couldn’t stay in Japan. My father is locked up for years to come and we won’t ever see him again. My mother left our family and comes back a few years later with a family of her own. My sister’s mental health is damaged for life. My face has a giant scar on it that will never go away and I’m forever marked because of it. Don’t you dare tell me that my life is perfect!” Zuko stands, finally upset enough to shout.

“I don’t know who I am anymore, okay? I can’t do anything! I can’t read, can’t draw, I can’t do anything related to who I used to be! So no, I can’t finish the comic!” 

Sokka goes still. His widened eyes fill with tears, and he turns and walks out the doorway. Zuko hears his footsteps leave the apartment and head downstairs until everything is silent. 

\--

Zuko sits at his desk with a blank sheet of paper in front of him and a pencil parallel to it. 

He can do this. He’s so close, after three years of hand cramps and messed up lines, he’s so close to the end. So close to forever being done with LAtD. 

The thought of being done with the webcomic is bittersweet. When he was younger, he always thought he’d be sad when it was over, sad that he would have to put it behind him. Another feeling is excitement. Excitement to start a new project and hopefully make it as good as LAtD was. 

Now, he just wants it to be over. 

He’s already finished the script, or rather, Azula took the liberty of finishing the final copy of the completed script for him.  _ Agni, he really needs to pay her.  _

The blank sheet stares at him. He stares back. Where there used to be feelings of inspiration and ideas and creativity flowing, there is a solid block of granite. 

He’s frightened. He can’t start. He doesn’t know  _ where to start _ . He doesn’t know  _ how to start _ . 

He pushes all thoughts into the back of his mind, save for one. 

_ Sokka _ .

He needs to do this for Sokka. So Sokka can have a book deal, so Sokka can go to college and look after his family, so Sokka can be who he wants to be. 

So Zuko  _ has to try. _

He tries everything. Anything. Faces, eyes, clothing, separating panels. Nothing comes out right. It’s too light, then it’s too dark, then it’s crooked, then it’s too stiff and straight. Proportions are off, lines are shaky. The weight is in all the wrong places.

The pencil must apparently decide it’s had enough, because it practically snaps in frustration in Zuko’s hand, and the pieces fly across the room. 

Zuko stops, then looks up Jeong Jeong’s disappearance on the internet. The results are all speculation, fan theories, fake articles. 

Zuko thinks that Jeong Jeong may have just… broken. Cracked under the pressure the fandom was putting him under. Will Zuko be like that? Will Zuko eventually decide it just isn't worth it?

Will he eventually just… break? 

Maybe he already has. 

\--

_ “So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.”  _

\- J. R. R. Tolkien

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahahahahahaha, do you hate me yet?


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ew, emotions. Gross. Get ‘em away from me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: this chapter contains mentions of domestic issues, mental health problems, references to depression, and child abuse.

_ “Above us, outlined against the brilliant sky, dragons crowded every available perching space on the Rim. And the sun made a gold of every one of them.”  _

\- Anne McCaffrey

\--

Zuko still can’t stand to go near the computer, even days after his fight with Sokka, so he has Mai check for him. 

Long Live the Emperor missed it’s last two updates. 

\--

Sokka is frustrated.

He can barely stand the thought of supporting Zuko anymore, but against his absolute anger, resistance, pettiness, and overall better judgement, he finds himself obsessively rereading all of LAtD from the start to the most recent update from a few weeks ago and staring at the pictures Zuko has drawn him. He wants to tear down the frames, smash them, and rip or even burn the paper drawings, but he stops himself.

Sokka normally dedicates nighttime after he has done his homework to writing, it helps him calm down and get out of his own head and away from the stress of living for a while. However, when he sits down the night after his argument with Zuko which resulted in Sokka leaving in a fit of rage, he finds himself a victim of a crippling case of writer’s block. 

It isn’t Sokka’s first case of writer’s block and unfortunately will not be his last. 

The next night, he still can’t write a single word. Two nights later, still nothing. Then it becomes three nights, then four, then five, then six, and he quickly loses count. 

A few days later, he finally understands. 

He’s lost his inspiration as well.  _ Artists create with a lack of motivation all the time _ , his words said to Zuko come back to haunt Sokka. 

Maybe this was what Zuko was talking about when he said there was nothing there, that he’s lost a part of himself. That he couldn’t work on LAtD anymore. 

And Sokka had  _ sneered _ at him. He’d dismissed Zuko’s problems, dismissed the fact that his  _ friend _ needed help and support, not more pressure to create something only to benefit Sokka. 

Zuko didn’t owe Sokka anything. Zuko chose to produce this webcomic, he chose to create this art that has influenced Sokka’s life and the lives of so many other people. 

_ Fuck, Sokka is such an asshole.  _

\--

There is only a month until exams and then graduation. Zuko wants to do anything but go back to school, he doesn’t want the judgement and the stares and the inevitable questions to be asked. He doesn’t want any of it. 

However, he’s already missed too many days of school, and if he misses more, he risks not graduating on time. 

What he wants to do is stay home and again try to find the inspiration to finish LAtD, for all the people he believes he owes it to. He wants to lay in bed with the curtains drawn and lights dimmed, nursing a cup of tea while watching comedic television. 

What he doesn’t want to do is talk to or look at anyone. Online or in real life. He doesn’t want to think about his inability to do what he loves, or Sokka’s angered and upset face when Zuko told him he couldn’t. 

Even before all this, Zuko was the most excited about going to college and majoring in political science so he can make a difference and represent people who can’t represent themselves. But he can’t escape to college anymore, there will be people there as well that know who he is. 

Azula stares at him, trying to gauge his reaction when he pulls up into his usual parking space in the student parking lot in front of the school. He doesn’t show any emotion. She doesn’t ask, because she doesn’t need to. 

He knows he wasn’t ready the moment he steps foot back into the school. His knees lock and nearly buckle, and he stumbles in the crowd. Quickly regaining his footing, he rushes as fast as he can in the pace of the moving crowd and gets to his locker. Forgets the combination, has to look through the notes on his phone to get it. 

When he opens his locker, dozens of folded and crumpled up notes fall out of it.

\--

_ Hi Zuko, _

_ You don’t know me, but I am a big fan of  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _. Probably not the biggest fan, I’ve only been following it for about six months, but it’s my absolute favorite thing. I love your art, and I hope I can draw like you one day. Get better soon! _

  * _Listria_Dreams_



  1. _S. I know you’re always asking who our favorite character is. Mine’s Kazuko!_



\--

This person stuck a note  _ in his fucking locker. _

Zuko drops the note and bends over to shovel them all in his backpack before anyone sees. The papers feel like they’re burning and itching his hands, and he drops them several times. There are just too many of them. 

A fingertip taps his shoulder and he jumps and looks behind him to see white hair, a tanned face holding a concerned expression, and blue eyes. 

It’s Yue. And hopefully, she’s not too angry. 

She’s not. Or at least, if she is, she’s hiding it really well. Yue bends over next to Zuko and helps him gather the notes, but she doesn’t put them in his backpack, she stands and walks over to a nearby trashcan and deposits them in it. When she walks back, she puts a hand on his shoulder. 

“Don’t read them. Trust me. It’s better you don’t read them.” She says. Zuko is confused for a moment, then he realizes she has been through a lot that he has as well. A lot of positive and negative publicity came with being famous, and being the daughter of a CEO of a really famous company guaranteed her a huge social media and press following. 

Zuko can’t think of anything else to say, so he says, “I--I’m just… I’m really--I’m really sorry Yue.”  _ Pathetic _ , his mind whispers. 

She smiles and shakes her head. “It’s okay. I understand. You don't need to apologize for not wanting to tell people.” 

The warning bell for five minutes until the start of the first period rings, and Zuko is hit with the realization and dread that he actually has to go to literature and face Sokka. Face him for the first time since Sokka stormed out of his house a few days before. 

He figures he must look like he’s going to be sick, because Yue sends him a reassuring smile before disappearing down the hallway.

\--

When he walks into Pakku’s class, he’s met with a surprised expression on Sokka’s face that quickly gets schooled into a look of emotionless stone. 

Sokka doesn’t turn and talk to him, or even acknowledge the other boy’s presence at all. Zuko is thankful. He doesn’t know what he’d say if Sokka did.  _ “I tried and I still can’t finish the comic and I’m sorry if I’ve completely ruined your life?” _

Zuko hasn’t been on the forums in weeks, he doesn’t know how the discovery of Zuko’s identity has impacted Sokka’s involvement in the fandom, he doesn’t know if Sokka’s been updating  _ Long Live the Emperor _ . 

And Zuko knows that creators shouldn’t feel this way about their fans. He distantly wonders if Jeong Jeong ever felt this way about his fans. 

_ Jeong Jeong.  _

And suddenly, Zuko knows what he needs to do.

\--

Before all of this, Zuko would’ve never dreamt to try to contact Jeong Jeong, the infamous author of  _ The Deserter _ series at all, but desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Zuko takes his notebook and opens it to a blank page, completely ignoring Pakku’s lecture about a random novel he’s already read. He’s scared to do this, and even more scared of the answer he may receive. 

But he needs someone who can relate to him. Someone who will understand. Someone who can give him the advice he truly needs right now. 

\--

_ Jeong Jeong,  _

_ My name is Zuko Hinote. I am not writing to you to talk about  _ The Deserter _ series, though I am a fan of yours. I’m the anonymous creator of the webcomic,  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ , and recently, my identity was revealed to the world. The day this happened, I had a violent panic attack and got admitted to the hospital. _

_ Pathetic, yes, I’m well aware.  _

_ Since then, I have been contacted constantly and through any means possible. Some messages are nice, some aren’t. I feel like people are constantly watching me, even when I’m alone. I haven’t been properly taking care of myself, and the most affected are my eating and sleeping habits.  _

_ After a couple weeks of hiding at home, I’ve gone back to school. I’ve never been filled with more anxiety in my life. I feel as though I could fall and drown at any moment.  _

_ I know this isn’t exactly the same as your situation, but the worst part of all is that I can’t finish LAtD. After three years of creating it, I can’t find it in me to finish. All of the motivation is completely gone. I don’t know how to get it back, but I know I have to.  _

_ The truth is, I have a friend who’s a really popular fanfiction writer for my comic. He was recently offered a trilogy book deal to write the comics into books. Now, it feels like his entire future and career depends on me finishing. I told him I couldn’t, and I’m scared he’ll never forgive me. _

_ I’m scared that I’ll never be able to be the artist I once was. I can barely draw a straight line at the moment and I’m scared it will be like this forever.  _

_ I don’t know if you can help me, or if you even know what I’m talking about, but you were the only person I could think of that might understand.  _

_ Thank you for your time, _

_ Zuko Hinote _

\--

Zuko gets through the rest of the morning with the letter folded neatly and clutched in his shaking hands. 

He decides to forgo eating in the cafeteria with his friends(?) and instead decides to eat in the library. He can’t eat with Azula, they have different lunch periods and he found out she cut class to find him during the day his identity was discovered. 

He sits in a quiet reading nook, far away from the other students, and skips his lunch in favor of attempting to draw again. His attempt is far from successful, but he keeps at it until he hears his phone beep. 

He thinks it may be Azula or Mai or Ty Lee checking up on him, but when he looks at the sender, he’s surprised, to say the least. 

**Aang** :  _ Hi _ . 

_ Hi? _ It’s that simple? Why is Aang tex--

_ Oh _ . 

Zuko looks up to find Aang seemingly hesitating and thinking on whether or not to sit down in the chair across from Zuko’s. 

**Aang** : is this seat taken?

Even though they’re far away from people and nobody would be able to hear them, Zuko appreciates that Aang is okay with not having a verbal conversation. Zuko attempts to smile and shakes his head. Aang smiles and sits in the chair, eyes focused on the letter to Jeong Jeong that Zuko still hasn’t let go of. 

**Aang** :  _ What’s on the paper? _

**Zuko** :  _ A letter to Jeong Jeong. _

**Aang** :  _ Who? _

**Zuko** :  _ He’s the author of a really popular book series. _

**Aang** :  _ Why write him a letter?  _

Zuko doesn’t know how to explain. He doesn’t think Aang would understand. 

**Zuko** :  _ I’m experiencing a few creativity problems right now. I need his advice.  _

Aang’s wise grey eyes suddenly land on Zuko’s open sketchbook, which he hasn’t even noticed he set down, and his face winces in sympathy. It’s open to the barely-begun comic page Zuko has been working on. Zuko immediately knows what the smaller boy is thinking. 

But Aang doesn’t say it. Instead, he texts:

_ We really miss you in the group, by the way.  _

Zuko’s eyes widen, and he tries to force back the tears pooling in his eyes. He knows it doesn’t work when Aang’s small body somehow envelops him in a hug. 

Zuko likes Aang’s hugs, he decides.

Even if he knows he doesn’t deserve them. Any of them.

\--

When Zuko gets home, he finds an envelope and a stamp in Uncle’s desk, then takes the letter to the nearby post office and deposits it there. A few years ago, the  _ The Deserter _ forums came up with an address for Jeong Jeong’s publisher, where they were accepting mail on his behalf. Zuko doesn’t actually know if it still sends mail to them, or if they send said mail to Jeong Jeong. The odds of the reclusive writer actually reading it are slim to none, and the odds of actually replying are even slimmer. 

But Zuko doesn't care. He needs to do this. 

\--

Zuko, Azula, Uncle, Ursa, and Ikem all sit down for a long family therapy session with Piandao.

It goes about as well as you may hope.

Lots of screaming and a bit of not-so-passive aggressiveness from Azula’s part. Cold shoulder and blank stares from Zuko. Attempts to relieve the tension in the room with tea from Uncle. Sincere but meager apologies from Ursa and Ikem.

It’s a long, hair-pulling, nail-biting, teeth-scraping, painfully awkward and almost violent three hours, but at the end, they reach an agreement. Zuko will agree to be more open with them, and Ursa and Ikem will agree to make more effort to understand Zuko and Azula. 

Some are far more satisfied with the results of the session than others, but little more can be done. 

For Zuko, it’s a start.

\--

Piandao recommends Zuko take a gap year when he graduates high school in the following weeks. Zuko hesitates at first, but realizes it will give him time to recover and focus on improving his mental health.

A few months ago, his family would have probably told him that he was going places and be very against him not immediately going to college, but they support him. 

Zuko gets the acceptance letter to a small local college, and writes to them about his choice to take a year off. 

\--

Zuko gets the idea when Katara shows up at the Jasmine Dragon one day. 

He’s finally gone back to work, the reporters all having backed off and hardly ever showing up these days. 

He looks up from the cash register ready to greet the next customer, when he sees her familiar face and flinches. 

She doesn’t say anything, simply ordering an elderflower tea to go and gives him a look he immediately deciphers as  _ we need to talk _ and gestures to the unofficial employee break room. He gets the message, and nods. Katara nods back and walks into the room. Zuko goes into the kitchen and asks Azula, who’s on her break, if she can cover his shift for a few minutes. She responds with a very rude gesture and an annoyed  _ fine _ .

He walks into the small room and is greeted with the sight of Katara standing with her arms crossed and a stern expression on her face. 

Zuko quickly looks down. He doesn't need her yelling at him right now. He’s already done it to himself plenty of times. 

_ She’s mad, _ he reminds himself.  _ She has every right to be mad. _

It’s awkward silence until Katara breaks it.

“An article surfaced earlier.” She starts, and Zuko grows even more terrified. “It was a translated Japanese article.” Now he’s confused. “It was about your father, Ozai Hinote, and your family line.”

_ Uh oh _ . This can’t be good. Nothing ever is with Zuko’s family. 

Katara’s eyes suddenly fill with tears. “I’m so sorry.” She says,  _ and now he’s really confused.  _

Finally, he finds his voice again. “Wait, about what?”

“It talked about what you and Azula went through… and how you got your scar.”

_ FUCK. This is what’s on the internet when you look up Zuko Hinote. Just how many people know about this?  _

As if she’s read his mind, Katara answers his question. “Just our group, that we know of, know. We got Teo, he’s Aang’s friend, to hack the website and delete the article.” She lets out a horrible sound between a sob and a laugh. “Our reactions were… well, they were something. We had to hold Toph and Suki back from using Toph’s parents’ money to buy plane tickets to Japan to quite literally murder your father.” 

Her tears fall down her face, and she finally collapses. Zuko rushes forward and catches her before she hits the ground and they both kneel on the hardwood floor. She practically tackles him in a hug, and they fall even more until she’s practically on top of him and sobbing into his shoulder. Zuko surprises himself by letting a few tears fall as well. 

After a few minutes of crying, Katara pulls away and uses her shirt to wipe her face. She looks at Zuko with an attempt of a smile, but it looks more like a grimace. 

“You didn’t deserve that. You know that, right? You didn’t deserve it.” She tells him, and he agrees.  _ It was cruel and it was wrong.  _

“Yeah, I know that.” And, because he can’t resist, he says, “How… how is everyone?”

“Aang told us he talked to you the other day. What he said is true, we do miss you. Yeah, we aren’t happy that you hid the truth from us, but we understand, and we aren’t angry.” Katara informs him. 

Zuko sniffles. “You aren’t?”

“Not anymore. We realized that you had a right to keep the secret, and that you had interacted with fans before.”

“Actually, I haven’t.” Zuko corrected her, then winced at the confession.

“You… nevermind. We aren’t angry. But someone else is…” 

He doesn’t have to take a wild guess to know exactly who she’s talking about. 

“Sokka won’t be forgiving me anytime soon.” He mutters.

“I wouldn’t be so sure. He told you about his publishing deal, right? I know it may seem like this could make or break his career, but you can’t put his goals over your health.”

“Over my own health. What do you mean?”

“You haven’t been able to work on LAtD since you were discovered.”

As usual, Katara’s right. “No.”

“You haven’t been able to go online to the forums.”

“Can’t stomach going near my computer.”

“You haven’t been able to finish the ending.”

“No, I knew how I wanted to end it before this even happened. I figured out the ending weeks ago, I just haven’t been able to bring it to life. I can’t draw anything right now!” Zuko lets out his frustration, Katara simply hugs him and rubs soothing circles onto his back. 

“I know.” She keeps whispering. 

“And Sokka is depending on me! The fandom is depending on me! I can’t let millions of people down, one of them being the guy I’m practically in love with!” Zuko realizes what he said way too late. 

Katara smiles hugely. “I knew it!” She yelled, and Zuko can only hope the customers can’t hear them. “But Sokka will survive if he misses this opportunity. It isn’t a life or death situation. The world and everyone in it will still move on if you don’t finish the webcomic. I know my brother. Sokka will understand eventually.”

Zuko looks up. “The opportunity. His publishing deal. Of course!”

At Katara’s confusion, Zuko clarifies. “I know exactly how to fix this. But I need to do a few things first. Can you get me the name of the publishing company that made the offer to Sokka?”

Katara grabs her phone. “You’re lucky. He forwarded it to me to ask if it was real.” She laughs. “Okay, here’s their email address. The company is called ‘Treehouse Farm Books’.” She shows Zuko the provided email address, and he quickly types out an email on his phone.

“Okay. Hopefully, they’ll respond soon. Katara, you’re on the student council, right?” She nods. “Great. Spread the word. I’m doing a live stream soon from the official LAtD instagram. Tell everyone you know who is a fan. Tell them to log on this Saturday at 3pm. Everyone, got it?” She nods again. 

“Good. I have some answers to give and explanations and speeches to write. Thank you so much, Katara!” He smiles, then rushes out of the room. 

\--

The publishing company gets back to him within the hour. 

After a bit of negotiating, the company agrees to take the deal even without Zuko having properly finished the webcomics, with the promise that he finishes it over the following summer. They send him a copy of the contract, which he prints and signs, officially giving permission for the books to be written. 

They ask about merchandise, and even recommend a graphic designer to help. All for free, to benefit the future sales of the books and merch. 

Zuko tells Mai and Ty Lee to announce on the official LAtD instagram and twitter that Zuko will be doing a livestream plus a Q+A discussing the future of the webcomics. The reaction is overwhelmingly excited. The fans send in question upon question, all relating to Zuko and his personal life. Who could blame them, they hadn’t known who he was for a very long time.

\--

Zuko doesn’t truly know why he agreed to the publishing deal. Maybe it’s because he wants to help Sokka out, even after the way the other boy treated him. 

He knows he doesn’t owe anyone this, even if he thinks he does. 

But he knows he’s scared. He started LAtD as a project to channel his creativity, not to profit from, but to make himself happy. Eventually, he grew to make others happy. He never thought there would be such a large step like this, choosing his artwork to be turned into novels. 

Deep down, he knows he’s ready for this step. 

\--

Zuko was falling, but now he feels as though he’s beginning to rise up. He’s in a much better mood than he has been in weeks, and now he knows that he can keep his friends, there are only two problems left to solve. 

\--

Zuko wakes up one morning to Azula throwing an envelope at his face. On the front of the envelope is his address, then a return address that is just a P.O box with no name. Zuko doesn’t need to read the signature at the bottom of the letter to know who it’s from, but it doesn’t make it any less unbelievable. 

\--

_ Dear Zuko, _

_ Thank you for your letter. I don’t often write to anyone anymore, so I apologize if this comes off as strange.  _

_ First off, you are not pathetic. Most people aren’t, they only think they are.  _

_ Being exposed to the public is certainly difficult already, but even more so at your young age. I remember being a teen boy in high school, and I don’t look back at those memories fondly. They were good memories, however, because I was able to escape into my writing.  _

_ I fear this may not be the case for you. My popularity didn’t come until much later in life, and by that time I was well out of school and settled. Yours has been with you from a much earlier time, and from what I’ve gathered from news articles, you’ve been working on this comic almost your entire teenage years. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to share that part of your heart with so many people and have to keep the secret.  _

_ Creating art is a lonelier task, which is why we introverts love it so much. But when we have fans looming over us, it feels lonely in a different way. We become almost caged, expected by zoo-goers to perform well, and if we don’t, we get bad publicity and reviews. If we do, the cage feels almost like a pedestal.  _

_ This is part of the reason I never finished  _ The Deserter _ , my writing was going through a bit of a rough spot, and I feared that the last book wouldn’t match up to the first two books. That was what ultimately held me back from publishing the last book: fear. Fear drove away my motivation and love for the story.  _

_ If you truly want to finish what you started, why did you stop? Was it fear? Or something else? I’m afraid I can't answer this question for you. You already know the answer.  _

_ If you want the motivation back, ask yourself why you had it in the first place. I may be able to answer this question. It was your love of your work, your story, your art, your characters. You desired for people to see your work and be touched by it, like all creators do. Desire is our motivation.  _

_ I think you need to ask yourself, what do you desire?  _

_ I hope you continue to create and work on  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _. It sounds like an amazing work of art. I may need to look into it myself.  _

_ From one artist to another, _

_ Jeong Jeong _

\--

_ And suddenly, it’s like he’s  _ **_awake_ ** _. _

\--

Zuko’s blood pumps. His brain is in high gear. His hands itch and ache for something. 

_ He needs something.  _

He needs…

He needs his pencil. 

\--

  
  


That night, Zuko reaches where he wants to be.

The ink and lines flow perfectly, the plot comes together. 

It’s a wonderful feeling. It feels like he’s  _ come home _ . 

\--

It’s been a painfully awkward week during the first period between Zuko and Sokka. Sokka refuses to talk to or even look at Zuko, only talking to him when he absolutely has to. Zuko isn’t much better, looking anywhere but Sokka. 

Where there was once joy and friendship(and a bit of sexual tension)in between them, there’s only anger and silence. It’s an empty void, one which Zuko doesn’t know how to fill back up. It doesn’t seem like it wants to be filled back up. 

But he knows he has to try. 

On Friday, the day before Zuko’s livestream, he gets Sokka’s attention. 

“Hey, Sokka.” He mutters, wanting the ground to swallow him whole. 

Sokka doesn’t acknowledge that he heard Zuko more than a glance in the corner of his eye. Zuko takes it as an unsaid  _ what? _

“Look, I know you probably don’t want to talk to me right now… Agni, you may even hate me, I don’t know… but I need to tell you how sorry I am.”

Sokka doesn’t respond, but he does move his head to the side a bit as if to say,  _ keep talking _ .

“I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I’ve had such a hard time finishing the webcomic and I’m sorry that your entire future is on the line because of me. I guess… I’m just sorry for existing, at this point.” Zuko doesn’t see it, but Sokka’s eyes soften and his stone cold expression drops a bit. 

“If you don’t want to talk to me, that’s fine. If you don’t want to be friends after all this is over, that’s fine too. If you never even look at me again, that’s fine as well. I can’t blame you. I just need you to know how sorry I am.”

Sokka doesn't reply for a few minutes. Zuko has just about given up on the conversation when Sokka speaks to him for the first time since their fight in Zuko’s room weeks ago. 

“I think I understand.” Sokka responds.  _ What does that mean?  _ “I understand how hard it is to not be able to finish--” 

Zuko can’t tell him yet, but more secrets will only damage their friendship further. “I am.”

Sokka looks at him, confused. “You are what?”

“I am finishing what I started.” When it doesn’t have the effect he wants it to, he clarifies. “I’m finishing the webcomic.” 

Sokka’s eyes widen, and his careful, guarded expression morphs into shock. “But you said--”

“I know what I said. I haven’t finished it yet. I haven’t even gotten to where I want to be. The pages are nowhere near ready. But I am.” Zuko says. “And it took me a while to figure it out,  **_but I am ready to face the dragons_ ** .” 

And with that last sentence(a quote from LAtD. Zuko’s pretty proud of it), the bell for second period rings, and Zuko leaves a conflicted and surprised Sokka sitting alone. 

\--

Zuko doesn’t check to see who, more specifically if any of his friends, have joined the millions of people attending the livestream, but at this point it doesn’t matter. Mai is recording the entire thing, to post on social media and the forums. Anyone who isn’t able to attend the stream today can view it anytime they want. 

Zuko, at least, will give them answers. 

\--

“Hello, Zuko here.” Zuko starts off. “But you all know me as Lord_Turtleduck, the… well, until recently, the anonymous creator of the webcomic, Love Amongst the Dragons. For most of you, you know me as an online persona only. 

Me in real life, I’m an extreme introvert. I’m awkward, I don’t always know what to say, or what to do. I’m not good with people or friendships. I’m not good at remembering that friends shouldn’t lie or keep secrets from each other. Secrets that could potentially hurt each other. 

I did that. I moved to a new school and I joined a group of pretty amazing people and they became my friends. They’re also big fans of LAtD. I wanted to hide my identity from them because I was scared of how they’d treat me if I confessed. I realize now that it was all in my head and if they were truly friends with me, they’d treat me the same as before they knew. So, guys, if you’re watching, you know who you are, I’m sorry I wasn’t a good friend. 

A lot of you have asked how I got started with webcomics, being an artist, and how I got really good at it. I started it as a habit. A hobby to help me cope with some childhood trauma me and my sister went through. When I first officially started LAtD, I was fourteen. A lot of people are surprised when they discover how old I am. How old I was. How I got this horrible scar. I’m not telling that story, I don’t want to give anyone else trauma.

But, I still think that LAtD made me who I am today. And, for a while, I was afraid of it. I was afraid that it had consumed my life too much and that I may never escape from it. It took a while to realize that that was complete bullshit. Sorry for the language. I’m proud of my work. I’m proud that I was able to touch the lives of so many and I know what LAtD means to you all. I’d like to thank everyone for their support. Without any support from a fandom, I don’t know where I’d be today. 

Speaking of the fandom, I know you guys sent in a lot of questions for me to answer in the Q&A portion of this livestream, and I’m going to answer as many as I can. But first, I have an announcement to make. 

I know a lot of you are wondering when or if I will finish the comic. I’m here to tell you, I’ve finished the webcomic.”

Zuko has to pause, seeing the uproar of excitement as comments and questions begin to pour in. 

“... Looks like everyone’s pretty excited for this. I am too. Starting after this livestream ends, I will post the end of the current chapter and we will start the posting schedule of one chapter per week, posted on Friday nights. The finale will come out in a two-parter in the estimated middle of June. 

But that’s not all. I have been in contact with a publishing company, and they are publishing the webcomics as a trilogy of novels! The comic is being turned into books! And no, before you ask, I’m not writing it. I’m an artist, not a writer. But yes, someone incredibly talented I know and trust to put my story into words will be writing it. I’m not currently going to be releasing the information of their identity, sorry to disappoint. I’m also looking into releasing merchandise, and I have a few people helping me out with that. There will be more on that later. 

But, for now, remember this: this comic has a special place in my heart, in several hearts. It is amazing and epic because so many people see it that way. To everyone, thank you all, watch the skies for dragons, and long live the Dragon Emperor.

Now, lets start on our questions that were sent in through social media!”

\--

Zuko answers every single question. It takes almost three hours, but they’re pretty short, and most are asking to get to know him as a real live person. 

It’s satisfying. He’s created the epic ending the comic deserves, three years in the making, and he’s finally faced his fears. 

Zuko is a dragon. And he’s finally learned to fly. 

\--

**Sokka** :  _ 4:00, tomorrow. You know where.  _

\--

Zuko’s mind blanks when he receives the text, and only one word whispers in his mind. 

_ ‘Waterfall.’ _

Did Sokka log into the livestream?  _ Zuko should have checked, he should have checked so he would know…  _

It doesn’t matter. Sokka wants to talk. Zuko will allow him to.

\--

Zuko shows up to the waterfall about ten minutes early. Sokka isn’t there yet. He sits on their rock, the rock they sat on together when they first came here, the first time Sokka trusted him with a secret, the existence of the waterfall. The place where Zuko told Sokka about his scar, and Sokka told Zuko about his mother’s death. 

Zuko doesn't know what will happen. He doesn’t know what to say when Sokka gets here. Hopefully, in the best case scenario, Sokka will do all the talking and they’ll stay friends and he may even forgive Zuko. Worst case scenario, they never talk again. 

_ Great odds, really.  _

He tucks the envelope holding the important papers closer to his side from the inside of his sweater. Sokka will most likely agree when he reads it, and if not, Zuko will have to go out of his comfort zone to find someone else who can write as well as Sokka can.

He only has to wait a few minutes before he hears someone walking through the wooded path behind him, and even then, he doesn;t need to turn around. He knows exactly who it is by their footsteps. He merely scoots over and Sokka sits down next to him on the rock. 

For several moments, they don’t speak. 

“I joined the livestream.” Is all Sokka says. “Watched the whole thing. All three hours.” 

And something in Zuko  _ aches _ .  _ Fuck, he’s so in love with this boy. _

“What did you think?” Zuko numbly asks, because he can’t hear Sokka say what he thinks he’s about to say right now. 

“You were in contact with a publishing company.” It’s a question, not a statement.

Zuko thinks now is as good as ever to bring this up. He takes the folder out of the interior of his jacket. He hands the folder to Sokka. “Open it.”

Sokka does, and he reads every single page. When he’s done, his eyes are swimming with tears. “You… you made a new contract?” 

“I got them to agree to the book deal. I already signed. You sign, I send it back to them, and you’re free to start the writing process for book one.” Zuko explains. “This doesn’t finalize the financial stuff and agreements, this is merely a formal agreement to go through with the project.” 

Zuko watches as Sokka takes it all in. “Thank you.” Sokka’s voice breaks. Tears spill down his face. “Thank you so much, Zuko.” 

“It’s the least I could do.”

“No. You’re wrong. It’s the most you could do.” Sokka corrects, and before Zuko can ask what he means, he’s pulled into a short kiss. 

A kiss on the lips. It’s filled with hesitancy, and Zuko can pull away at any given moment, but he doesn’t. The kiss ends when Sokka’s tears start to interfere and it turns salty. 

When they pull away, Sokka has a hand tentatively resting on Zuko’s cheek and the other clutching his hand like a lifeline. 

“I like you. I really like you. I’ve liked you for a while now. If you don’t feel the same way, Zuko, please--”

Zuko cuts him off with another kiss. “I like you too, Sokka.”

Sokka’s expression is vulnerable, so sensitive, and it makes Zuko wonder. 

“You… you were angry.” Zuko mumbles. 

Sokka registers the words for a moment before he pulls Zuko into his arms. “Tui and La, Zuko, no.” Sokka’s body trembles. “No, I don’t care. I shouldn't have said what I said in your bedroom, I should've… I should have seen how much you were hurting and how much I added to that… and I’m just so sorry, Zuko!” He sniffles. “I was just so angry because I was focused on only what I wanted and didn’t at all try to help you…”

“You couldn’t update  _ Long Live the Emperor _ , could you?” Zuko asks, because he has to know. 

“No. I couldn’t. I understand what you mean when you said you couldn’t do it. I’m… I’m just so sorry, Zuko!” 

“It’s okay… I’m sorry too. I’m sorry.” Zuko breathed into the other boy’s shoulder.

They collapse against each other, nearly falling off of the rock, and cry.

\--

Zuko is far from perfect. He knows this. He knows that no one is perfect. But when they head back to the Jasmine Dragon and cuddle on Zuko’s bed while watching Parks and Recreation, Zuko will know that this is perfect. 

\--

_ “I am the blood of the dragon. I must have fire in my eyes when I face them, not tears.” _

\- George R. R. Martin

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of people will be less than thrilled that Zuko decided to do the publishing deal, so please know that he is a strong independent individual and he was ready to take this big step and spread his work with his own free will. 
> 
> Also, you all have no idea how long I was waiting to use that Game of Thrones quote at the end.

**Author's Note:**

> Any and all homophobic comments will not be tolerated. Please be appropriate in the comments. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but there is a difference between being critical and being rude and cruel.
> 
> Special thanks to Francesca Zappia.


End file.
